The Power of the DragonClaws
by Theglaceongirl
Summary: When Lance DragonClaw steps down from being champion some seriously big stuff happens in his life. but this story isn't about him, It's about his 'adopted' children
1. Chapter 1

Lance walked down the corridor into the generator room. He reached into the pocket of the black team rocket uniform. His hand close into a fist around a small metallic object. It was a bomb. Lance casually strolled over to the engine and pretended to examine it, he flicked the latch-on bomb onto the bottom of the transformer housing and it clicked a quiet click. Lance knew that when he chose to the bomb would be fired via a remote in his pocket. The success of his mission assured, Lance decided to use his well-earned uniform to explore the base.

After resigning from being champion Lance had signed onto the branch of the spy-network. He quickly applied his skills as a Pokémon trainer and became one of the best agents the nation had. He had spent 4 months on this assignment; to infiltrate and destroy a secret team rocket research laboratory.

Lance backed into the darkness as a scientist rushed hurriedly into one of the labs with a clipboard. It took half a second for Lance to identify that particular scientist as Cynthia, the former Champion of the Sinnoh region who had also taken up the occupation as one of the greatest spies the world might ever see. Lance decided to investigate the Lab.

Lance opened the door and went into a long, wide, corridor-like room; it was painted white, with an azure blue tile floor. Lined around the room were stasis pods large enough for a fully grown man to fit inside and in the centre of the room there were as many work desks as there were pods. Lance walked over to Cynthia who wore her blue, mission dyed hair in a long, trailing pony tail that flowed over her shoulder. Lance walked over to her.  
"The moon is full" Lance said quietly under his breath, this was the previously agreed signal for the bomb placement. Cynthia looked up with a look of horror and glanced at the stasis pod nearest her desk. Lance looked over too and saw a young girl, about 10, in the pod. She had Cynthia's long hair, but it was Cynthia's natural shining blond colour. The girl was very pretty, with Cynthia's nose and her lips as well. Lance looked at the girl and back at Cynthia.  
"A word please grunt" Cynthia said and she opened a door into a cupboard and motioned for him to step inside the large enclosed science storage room.  
"What is it?" Lance asked wondering what was so important that it could give away one of the biggest missions of the century  
"I don't expect you to understand, but listen" Cynthia said with a panicked tone in her voice that was so unlike her usual calm complexion "Team Rocket has been growing clones-"  
"Like Mewtwo?" Lance asked hurriedly, referring to a previous project that Team Rocket has devised and carried out concerning the created Pokémon that was bred from the DNA of Mew the legendary Pokémon.  
"Yes… and No," Cynthia answered "Team Rocket grew people, mere children and mixed their DNA with that of a Pokémon. There are 5 of these children here and each one is jointed with a different Pokémon."  
"Why does this concern our mission?" Lance asked, his brain cogs turning to comprehend why his usually steel-firm companion was worried and what she was worried about.  
"Because… when Team Rocket decided to start this project they needed DNA, human DNA. They chose me to give my DNA into one of the children, she's my daughter!"  
" You cannot let this effect the mission. This child could be dangerous!" Lance whispered aggressively, angry that his partner had let her emotions cloud her judgement and block out the importance of the mission.  
"These children are innocent, and that girl out there, she is my daughter!" Cynthia said her eyes where wet and shiny and tears started to cascade down her face.  
"Let's say I agreed to help you aid your 'daughter' and the other 'children' to escape, how would we plan that?"  
"If you detonate the bomb then the scientists will panic and run. We can defrost the children and get them to run to the escape chopper, we can save their lives!" Cynthia said as she appealed to Lance's natural chivalrous nature."  
"OK, when do we detonate the bomb?" he asked Cynthia as his hand felt for the detonation device in his pocket  
"Now" Cynthia said and Lance pushed his thumb onto the trigger of the bomb. An explosion rocked the base as the Transformer exploded, the scientists screamed and ran out of the Lab, dashing for safety.  
"Press the auto release on the pods!" Cynthia screamed at Lance as she dashed back and forth pressing buttons on various Stasis tubes. Lance hit a large button on Cynthia's 'daughter's' pod and the lab started to fill with stasis smoke and water vapour. The girl's body went limp and Lance swung her over his back. Meanwhile Cynthia had the hands of two children, a girl and a boy. Lance saw two other children, a girl and a boy as well, who were wide eyed and looked scared.  
"Grab my hand and run" Lance said too them as the boy grabbed his left, the girl, his right and he sped off quickly with Cynthia in hot pursuit.

They all sped off into the night and rendezvoused with the waiting helicopter. The children ran in after Lance and Cynthia. The young girl on Lance's back began to wake up finally, and her eyes flicked open and she saw Cynthia. For a brief moment their eyes met and Cynthia felt her heart rush and her happiness mount as she saw her very own daughter, the daughter she had always wanted, and then the young girl's eyes closed and she dropped off to sleep upon Lance's lap with her head and shoulders on Cynthia's legs.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance led his family down to professor Juniper's lab. With him he had his newly wed wife, Cynthia, and his 5 children that he had… adopted. It was 2 years after the 'incident' when he met the 5 children that would change his life so drastically and it was 2 years since he had started going out with Cynthia, his operations partner. Lance rang the doorbell and waited for professor juniper, the Unova region's top scientist to answer the door and help him and his family discover more about their children and themselves.

30 long seconds later professor Juniper opened the door too her guests who where, as it was 10:15, perfectly on time. Professor Juniper led them in too her lab and a curious machine that was flashing gently in blues, reds and greens.  
"I will ask once more," Professor Juniper said as she confronted the family "Are you sure you want to know the species of Pokémon that you share the DNA with?"  
"Yes!" the 5 children said, their eyes steel tinted with grave determination  
"You may not like the Pokémon you are joined with, it might repulse you or even make you sick. I cannot guarantee that it will be a nice one, or," Professor Juniper looked at the two boys "a strong one. It could be that the DNA has been damaged due to the human conditions you've been living in. It could be that the data is unreadable or that the machine cannot find a match. This information could, no, will change your life, and," Juniper looked at Lance and Cynthia "for better or for worse, you will have to live with this information for the rest of your lives. I ask again. Do you want to know?"  
"With all due respect professor" said a small, blond girl, who had an air of innocence and purity about her. "We have been waiting all of our very short lives to hear this information. We have learnt as much as we can about all species of Pokémon so that we will know some things about the Pokémon we are connected to."  
"Very well then…" Juniper said "who will go first?"  
"We already decided that our brother Drew will go first" the petit blond girl said with a sense of authority. A green haired boy stepped forward and flicked his hair to the side. He smirked boyishly and the other boy rolled his eyes.  
"Come over here." Professor Juniper said as she pointed to a seat in front of the softly bleeping and glowing machine  
"I'm going to need one of your hairs" Juniper said and Drew plucked out one of his minty green hairs. Juniper put the hair on the tray of the machine and pressed a button. The machine searched it's data banks  
"MATCH FOUND" the machine boomed "DNA OF ROSERADE, THE BOUQUET POKEMON"  
Drew beamed and he turned round to face his family  
"Talk about a contest Pokémon!" he said as he flicked his hair and smirked simultaneously.  
"Who is going next?" Professor Juniper said as a blue haired girl stepped forward. She fiddled with her hair clips nervously and re-adjusted them a bit higher.  
"What's your name?" professor Juniper asked  
"Dawn" Dawn replied, she pulled out a hair from behind one of her clips and gave it to the professor.  
"If you could just sit down there," Juniper said as she motioned toward the seat in front of the machine. Juniper switched the two hairs and placed Dawns hair on the bed. Juniper pressed the button and it took the machine 30 seconds before it boomed out in its large and echoing voice.  
"MATCH FOUND, DNA OF TOGEKISS, THE JUBILEE POKEMON"  
"It's so cute," Dawn squealed "I love it!" and Dawn skipped of happily to join her family and get a hug from her ginger haired sister, who then stepped forward to present herself to Professor Juniper.  
"My name is misty," Misty said and Professor Juniper couldn't help but marvel at the deep blue colour of her eyes. Misty reached up and pulled a short orange hair from her head and gave it to the professor  
"Take a seat" Juniper said and Misty sat down in the chair. Her legs crossed and her arms folded as if she was preparing herself for the worst. Her hair went on the tray and Juniper pressed the button.  
"MATCH FOUND, DNA OF STARMIE, THE MYSTERIOUS POKEMON"  
Misty's blue eyes sparkled and lit up as she walked back to the group.  
"Who's next?" Professor Juniper asked and a spikey brown haired boy walked reluctantly away from the small, blond sister.  
"The name's Gary" Gary said as he sat lazily down on the seat and pulled out a hair from his enormous mass of brown, chaotic hair. Professor Juniper put the new hair on the tray, discarded the old hair into a bin and pressed the button to start the machine  
"MATCH FOUND, DNA OF HITMONCHAN, THE PUNCHING POKEMON"  
Gary threw one fist in the air in a comical punch that the rest of his family laughed at. Gary then retreated back to his family to stand next to his smaller, immensely blond sister as he had done before. Professor Juniper could tell strait away that they were extremely close; it was easy to tell once you saw how he stood, in a defensive pose next to her, as if he was going to block a train from hitting her or something. Professor Juniper smiled; all brothers had a favourite sister.

The last of Lance's children was like a miniature version of her mother. She was thin and short for her age. Her blond hair reaching her waist and covering up her back. She walked up to the professor and stuck out her hand,  
"My name is Victoria, thank you for all you've done so far for my family" she said as she shook the professor's hand. Victoria pulled out a long, blond hair and gave it to Professor Juniper. She then sat down in the seat and waited. The Professor walked over to the tray and put the hair on it. She then pressed the button and waited. It took the machine a minute to find the correct DNA, but it seemed much longer to Victoria, she wasn't worried about, she was just nervous. Secretly she had guessed that all of her sibling's Pokémon would be what they had found out they were but she had no clue what Pokémon she would be a relation to.  
"MATCH FOUND, DNA OF SHEDINJA, THE SHED POKEMON"  
Victoria rose from the seat and ran straight over to Gary and they embraced.

When Gary finally let go of his sister professor Juniper began to speak  
"The machine has picked up some… special abilities that you all have, this could be a result of how your DNA was grown or how you have grown up, Drew," Professor Juniper said as she looked at the green haired boy that stood between his sisters Dawn and Misty  
"You have a high amount of control over spores, you can release pheromones through the air to make people like you, hate you, become sleepy, become angry and become relaxed. You also have quite high control over plants and probably grass Pokémon. The computer has calculated your move set to be ar-"  
"I have moves?" Drew interrupted quickly "Like a Pokémon?"  
"Well, yes. The move set is the same as the Pokémon you were joined with, but hopefully it will be one that you enjoy using. Now as I was saying, you move set is set around the move 'Magical Leaf', it also contains 'Poison Jab', 'Energy Ball' and 'Grass Whistle'." Professor Juniper looked over at Misty  
"Misty, you have an ability close to 'Water Absorb', when you come into contact with water you will be automatically healed, you also have some weak psychic abilities, but your strongest ability is that you can influence water to make it do whatever you want or need. Your move set is centred around 'Water Pulse' but you also have 'Whirlpool', 'Surf' and 'Confusion'."  
"What about me?" Dawn asked as she stepped cutely forward and put her head on one side  
"Well Dawn," Professor Juniper said "You have one, very useful ability, the computer thinks that you can grow and retract wings with minimal difficulty."  
"And my move set?" Dawn asked curiously  
"Focused on the fighting type move 'Aura Sphere', It also contains two flying moves, 'Ariel ace' and 'Brave bird' but you also have 'Sing' under your belt."  
"Cool" said Dawn as she skipped back to her place in the line  
"Gary, you will be a natural fighter, you can launch punches faster than normal humans can see and you can use the three elemental punches, 'Thunder Punch' 'Ice Punch' and 'Fire Punch'. As well as your combat skills you can also use the move 'Earthquake', although that might be better saved for… special occasions as it will hit lots of people and, depending on how powerful, bring down a house or two."  
"What about me, Professor?" Victoria asked  
"Well Victoria, you have inherited Shedinja's ability; Wonder guard. This means that-"  
"I can't be hit by any kind of move unless it's super effective" Victoria interrupted  
"Yes, but you seem to have manual control. You can only get hurt or, in battling terms, take damage if you want to."  
"You're saying that… If I ran out in front of a car, I wouldn't get hurt?" Victoria said cautiously as she studied Professor Juniper's face  
"When you gain control of your powers"  
"Do I Suffer from Supper effective Damage as well?"  
"Not if you have your Wonder guard on."  
"Wow…"  
"You also have one move"  
"One?"  
"Yes, your human DNA is stronger than your Pokémon DNA so you have only inherited one attack and one ability unlike your Siblings, whose Pokémon DNA is stronger, or equivalent to, their Human DNA."  
"So what is my only move?"  
"Hyper beam"  
"It's a good move" Victoria said looking round at her family "and a good ability, but… how are we going to do anything, I mean, can you see us walking down the street and people pointing and whispering "oh look, there are the Poké-Human hybrids". It's not going to go well"  
"Well…" Lance said, entering the conversation for the first time, he looked over at Juniper "Can my family and I have some alone time?"  
"Of course" Juniper said as she left the Lab and closed the door behind her

"I have been offered a deal from Titan an-"  
"What's Titan?" Misty asked  
"It's the spy and espionage Network that your father and I have been working for for many years." Cynthia answered  
"You found us on one of your missions, right?" Drew Said and he waited for someone to confirm that fact  
"Yes, Yes we did" Cynthia said  
"So what do they want?" Dawn asked  
"And is it worth what they are offering?" Gary chipped in  
"They want you to become spies in training, They will help you master your powers and teach you vital skills like how to assemble gadgets, switch off lasers, destroy bases, fly helicopters and other spy skills" Lance said and his eyes lit up as he remembered his training days  
"What are they offering?" Drew asked curiously  
"A fairly Normal life, and a massive pay check. They will pay for tuition in the best school for all 5 of you. They will also pay each of you 2 million a year and have already given 3 million to the family as a gesture of good will." Cynthia said "But they have made a promise that, even if you decline, they will keep your parentage and genetics secret and that will only release the information if all 5 of you allow it,"  
"Will they insure secrecy about us if we accept?" Victoria asked, feeling for Loopholes and leverage in the promise they had been made.  
"Of course," Lance said  
"I think we go for it" Drew said as he played with his hair, twirling it round his finger.  
"Yes" Misty said  
"It's too good an opportunity to miss" Victoria added in  
"Not to mention think of the clothes and shoes we could buy!" dDawn exclaimed noisily  
"I agree, I think it is a good idea" said Gary  
"tell Titan that we accept" Victoria said, voicing the view of the siblings  
"Good, I think you'll enjoy being spies" Cynthia said as Lance put his hand around her waist  
"Yeah," Lance said "It's becoming the family business"


	3. Chapter 3

Drew closed his eyes, _a quick in and out they said. Just an easy find and obtain mission they said. But right now the only 'easy' thing about this mission was the laser protection system that I'll have to shut down_ Drew thought to himself _and it takes me half an hour to turn on Gary's Laptop._

Drew opened his eyes again and looked at the control pad on his left. It wasn't in the plan of the mission, or in the blue prints of the building, but it was there, and he had to deal with it. Drew looked at the key pad and knew he had no chance of working it out at all. Drew raised his Green wrist watch up to his mouth  
"We have a laser barrier over here Gaza" Drew spoke into his watch, his voice barely more than a whisper  
"Ok, I'm on it" Gary's voice came in through a speaker on Drew's watch.  
"Dawn, can you open the door from your side?" Victoria's Voice rung out over the channel  
"I'm on It" Dawn replied back to her  
"Ok Drew… that should just about do it" Gary said as the laser beams turned off  
"check, They're off"  
"Hey guys, Target found!" Misty said over the com  
"We're 700 Metres from your Position Mist" Victoria said  
"Yeah, and closing" Dawn called from Victoria's wrist com  
"I'm about 1500 metres as the eagle flies" Drew said as he checked his position and the position of Misty's Flashing dot  
"I'm coming in from the south side" Gary said  
"Ok, we'll wait for you to arrive" Misty promised "Or, at least, we'll wait for as long as we can!"  
Drew pelted down the corridor and focused on sprinting towards the destination that Misty's com was coming from. Two years ago the siblings had learned their DNA Pokémon and had accepted the offer to become spies. Drew had already become a top notch co-ordinator, winning his 2nd Ribbon Cup three months ago. Gary was the champion of Kanto and a world-wide battle Icon, Victoria was a sell-out music artist with a tour in November, Misty was a gym leader and had recently been proclaimed as the best in Kanto, It was even said that she might be able to beat her brother. And Dawn was a fashion designer extraordinaire. She made millions of pounds every month and was constantly in magazines.  
_Come to think of it_ Drew thought _we are all pretty famous, lots of people know who we are, what we do… but no-one knows about this. We are the greatest Teenage spies in the world, and right now we are on one of the biggest missions of the decade, we need to obtain the last remaining set of Dark Balls from Team Rocket.  
_  
Misty was looking at a massive glass case containing a black briefcase. Dawn and Victoria rushed into the room from down a corridor and Victoria raised her watch and flipped up a scanner.  
"Yep, they're in there all right, all six of them" Victoria whispered as she flipped the scanners back down  
"Gaza, where are you?" Dawn asked using Gary's nickname  
"I'm about 500 metres and closing" Gary replied  
"There's Drew!" Misty called as Drew raced down a corridor into the room to meet them  
"I don't think we can wait much longer" Dawn said as she flipped her watch over and set the settings on laser and started to cut the glass case. Suddenly an alarm went off and lights started flashing.  
"Watch out guys, there are red lights and loud noises over here" Gary called down the com  
"Yeah that was Dawn." Victoria called down the com  
"Come on guys," Misty said "The more lasers on this thing the better"  
"Yeah, I'm doing all the work" Drew said as he gritted his teeth and tried to cut as fast as he could  
"Uh, we've got a problem" Gary said over the com  
"What kind of problem" Dawn asked  
"How about, say, 50 armed guards all with guns?"  
"That is a problem" Drew said, he cut through the last millimetre of glass and it fell to the floor with a smash.  
"I'll stop them," Gary said confidently  
"be careful!" Victoria said nervously "You don't Know what could happen"  
"You know I'm careful" Gary said as he ended the transmition. Dawn picked up two of the dark balls and fastened them to her utility belt.  
"Come on guys," Dawn called "Gary will hold them off, and whilst he does we should make a getaway"  
"Ok," Victoria said as she fastened a dark ball to her belt  
"Sounds good to me!" Misty Said as she fastened a dark ball to her belt  
"Yeah," Drew said as he also picked up a dark ball "Time to leave"

Meanwhile Gary was throwing punch after supersonic speed punch. Soldier after soldier fell down unconscious. Gary saw his siblings running down the corridor perpendicular to his own. They came out in front of the masses of senseless troops and Gary caught Victoria's eye. She smiled encouragingly at him as Dawn chucked him one of her dark balls. Gary caught it one handed and a smirk crept onto his boyish face.  
"I see you found the prize" He said in a sarcastic voice  
"No," Victoria said smiling lovingly at her brother "We found them in a dustbin"  
"Of course, the hiding in the stupid place manoeuvre" Gary quipped as he walked towards his sister  
"Can we stop the banter?" Drew asked, knowing that time was running out  
"Yeah, come on guys" Misty said as she flicked open her com "I'm going to call the chopper"  
"All right then" Dawn said. Suddenly Dawn's head cocked onto one side. The siblings noticed and listened carefully…  
"What is that sound?" Victoria asked as she backed behind Gary  
"I'm not sure…" Dawn said. Drew listened carefully; he could hear a sound like a slithering creature that was coming from the corridor from which he and his sisters had come down. He stared down the corridor. Something about that sound made the hairs on the back of his neck stick up. He stole a glance at his siblings and saw that Victoria was hiding behind Gary and Misty and Dawn were holding hands. Drew looked back down the corridor and watched in shock as the light at the end of the corridor flickered and went out. Then the next one down the line spluttered until it went dimmer and dimmer, then it too went out so that the far end of the corridor was pitched into darkness. Drew Shivered and moved towards the darkness, edging closer and closer to the dark patch. The slithering noise got ominously louder; Drew peered into the Murky gloom and saw a dark, murky shape just behind the dark veil the blown light produced. Drew could smell a disgusting, pungent smell. Like that of rotten eggs or decomposing fish mixed with ripe garlic and blue cheese.

Suddenly a mandible stepped out of the dark. It was a sickly combination of purple and yellow that, along with the disgusting smell, made Drew want to throw up. The Creature came out of the darkness and Drew recoiled as an Ariados-human creature crept out of the darkness. It was like a normal Ariados only it had the face of a human. The creature had a sharp nose and a large abdomen. It had small, cruel eyes and ragged, matted purple hair.

"What have we got here then?" The foul, poisonous creature asked in a patronizing tone. Victoria stepped forward so that she was standing next to Drew  
"What are you?" She asked, every fibre in her body wanted her to run… run away and leave this dirty spider, this wretched beast, but Victoria pitied it, it was Insectoid and seemed to have intelligence. This could make it her sister…  
"Better then you, you stealing filth" The vile creature spat, baring her razor sharp fangs and clicking her mandibles to create a sound that was worse than a knife on a plate, worse that a nail on a blackboard, a sound that chilled Victoria to the very heart of her soul. The filthy spider being spat into Victoria's eye, Victoria felt the saliva burn like acid and tried to quickly wipe it out.  
"We take back what is not Team Rockets to own and hold dear." Gary said backing up her sister  
"Yeah," Dawn chipped in, "And they shouldn't own things that they will use to hurt People and Pokémon!"  
"Team Rocket isn't afraid of cutting corners in the legal track though business" The spider creature cooed "and that is why evil will always win"  
"That's where your wrong," Misty said as she stood defensively behind Drew  
"And good will all ways win when we're around!" Gary said as he smirked his signature boyish smirk  
"Says who?" the Spider creature said sceptically  
"Says my hyper beam!" Victoria said as she stepped forward and held out her hands and started to create a giant orb of golden energy. She released the energy and an explosion racked the building. Victoria grabbed Gary's hand and ran. Her siblings saw her move and began to run after her. The corridor began to cave in behind her and Victoria had to sprint to get out of the way of the falling debris. Dawn flipped out her snowy white wings and began to fly down the corridor whereas her sister Misty was struggling a bit. Drew noticed this, and, being the best runner of the group, he grabbed her hand and pulled her along into a fast sprint. Dawn launched an aura sphere at the wall and it caved outwards, creating a black hole in the otherwise pure white wall. She burst through and saw the waiting Titan helicopter that they had called and flew over to the open door. Dawn jumped in and looked out of the door to see her siblings clambering in, first Misty, then Drew, followed by Victoria and half a second later Gary.  
"You finished the mission?" Cynthia said from behind the controls of the chopper "Did you get the dark balls before or after you trashed the place?"  
"After, of course mother" Victoria said "All six of them," Victoria produced one, Gary presented one, Dawn held two up, Drew offered one up and Misty threw her in the air and caught it  
"Mission accomplished?" Drew asked as the chopper took off  
"Mission accomplished!" Dawn shouted


	4. Chapter 4

Victoria was woken up when Dawn burst into her room  
"Helloooooooo!?" Dawn called "Fist day of boarding school?!"  
"Yeah…" Victoria moaned "5 More minutes"  
"NO… NOW!" Dawn shouted "Everyone else is up!"  
"Alright…" Victoria said as she got up and stretched  
"Remember, clothes are everything" Dawn said as she went out of the room.  
Victoria padded across the floor and over to the built-in cupboards that contained her clothes. She opened the door and pulled out her favourite dress, it was white and yellow checked with a white collar and a white belt. Victoria looked down to the bottom right of her wardrobe, to her Parasol collection, and selected a Yellow parasol, exactly the same shade as her dress, with a white handle. Victoria went over to a jewellery box on her dressing table. She opened it and began leafing through necklaces, bracelets, ring and tiaras until she found a small, purple bag. Victoria opened the bag and tipped the small silver charm bracelet onto her hand. Lance and Cynthia had bought her this bracelet when she had first agreed to join Titan to become part of their First (and probably last) Poke-human Squad: Team Ventura. Since then, with every completed mission Lance, Cynthia, Victoria and her siblings would go to the massive shopping centre in the next town over and buy each other something to celebrate…

_Last week at the end of their Dark ball mission_

"So…" Dawn called out to her siblings and adoptive parents "Who's first?"  
"I think it should be Gary" Misty said "I mean… He did fight of 50 armed guards"  
"Yeah, but I fought of 60 odd last time and then I also took down… Oh what's her name…? Mars, That's It Mars, and that was last time and I got to go first, I think it should be Drew" Gary said  
"I didn't do much!" said Drew "And I had to call Gary for help on the Laser barriers"  
"Yeah but you stood closest to the Weird spider thingy" Dawn said "Anyone who stood that close should get a medal"  
"It's decided then" Victoria said and with a flourish of her parasol she pointed it at Drew. "Drew, your siblings and I have decided that you should get the first Present" then Victoria signalled to her Siblings "Shopping time!"  
The siblings ran off into the Shopping centre to find a gift for Drew. They ran straight to the co-ordinator supplies store.  
"Ok" Dawn said, having taken part in quite a few contests before deciding to be a fashion designer "Victoria, look for Good Pokéblocks, Gary, you're on Cases and Holders. Misty, I want you to look for any new gear in the magazines, I'll Scan the Middle shelves for anything good, meet back here in 10 minutes and we'll decide on our purchase"  
Victoria ran over to the Pokéblocks and made a few discoveries about new brands before she saw a Pokéblocks and Poffin recipe book. Victoria picked it up and checked around to see that the rest of the family were assembling at the foot of the store.  
"So, what have we got" Dawn asked the siblings  
"I found out that there's a new Pokéblocks and Poffin maker featured in Co-ordinator 4 u" Misty said as she came out of the magazine isle,  
"And I found a book on the best recipes for Poffins and Pokéblocks." Victoria said adding her opinion  
"There weren't any new cases down the case Isle," Gary chimed in "But there was that new Poffin cooker"  
"let's get him the cooker and the Recipes," Dawn said

10 minutes after they bought the cooker and book they went to the gift parlour and asked them to wrap them up. Then the siblings, led by Dawn, took the wrapped up and tagged gifts down to the car and put them in the boot, as was the family tradition. Dawn led the triumphant family down to the foyer and greeted Drew  
"SO… who's next?" Drew asked as they approached  
"Dawn" Misty said "She led the present buying, so she should get next present"  
"Agreed" Victoria said and they all sprinted off to the escalators before Dawn could object.

They went up to the top floor, the fashion floor, for Dawn's gift, and they knew what they were looking for, the white, red and blue dress that dawn had seen in her fashion magazine last week. She loved this dress and had talked about it non-stop for almost an hour since she saw it. Misty pulled a picture out of her trouser pocket.  
"Right," Misty said "We are looking for this dress." She passed the picture round "It has to be in these colours, and in this size"  
"Ok…" Gary said, he was no expert on clothes and didn't pretend that he was  
"You two head that way" Victoria said to Drew and Gary "and we'll go this way"  
"and if we find it?" Drew asked  
"Text us then buy it." Misty said as they headed into the nearest store  
"Right" Gary said as he gritted his teeth and started to walk towards the shop to his left. Oh how he hated dress shopping.

30 minutes later they assembled into the foyer again to select the next prospective present recipient.  
"This time it has to be Gary's turn" Drew said  
"Yeah, you know how much he hates dress shopping" Misty said  
"Actually I wanted to get rid of him for a while" Drew said and Dawn laughed out loud.  
"Alright then" Victoria said and she and her sisters and brother headed off to the sport department.

The siblings, minus Gary, Were walking down the main Isle of the sports shop looking for a new basketball for their brother. Many of the Basketballs were good but they weren't what they were looking for. Victoria was about to suggest looking for something else when she spotted a White basketball with… Gary's face on it. She snatched it up and looked at the ball. Underneath his face were the words 'Kanto champion on court'. Victoria whirled round and showed it to her siblings.  
"Perfect" Drew said "Just what we want,"  
"You don't think this will give him a big head do you?" Misty asked sarcastically  
"His head can't get any bigger, it'll explode!" Dawn giggled and Victoria went and bought it.

When the 5 assembled in the foyer for the fourth time it was 4:30  
"We need to be ready to leave by 5," Lance said "So that we can have our dinner and you can have your presents from us"  
"Ok…" Dawn said "why don't we do Misty's and Victoria's presents together?"  
"Good idea!" Gary said  
"Yeah, come on Basketball head!" Drew teased  
"Huh?" Gary said in a confused tone and Victoria and Misty gave Drew a sharp, cold stare  
"Oh, don't worry" Drew said sheepishly  
Dawn led the two boys off to choose the other sisters their presents and, true to their word, they were back with two brightly wrapped boxes by 5 'o' clock on the dot  
"Ready to leave now?" Lance asked  
"Yeah, we're ready" Dawn said as she got into the family's limo  
"that's enough shopping for a long while" Gary said  
"What do you mean?" Misty asked "Dawn will want to be back here tomorrow morning"  
"Well I'm not coming!" Victoria said as she followed her sibling's into the limo  
"Me neither" Drew said "Although I could do with a new jacket"

After dinner it was time for the present giving. Everyone watched each other as they opened the gifts that their brothers and sisters had selected for them. Victoria opened a small, black box to find a Shedinja enamel painted charm for her charm bracelet. She clipped it on right away and let it jangle happily beside her other 12 charms: Butterfree, Crustle, Masquerain, Volcarona, Leavanny, Dustox, Scolipede, Forretress, Armaldo, Illumise, Kricketune and Parasect. Victoria loved her new charm more, because she had been searching for A Shedinja to be her first ever Pokémon. She had never ever managed to track one down. It was one of the biggest quests of her life. She had 15 agents all around the world keeping an eye on the Nincada/Ninjask population and she had set up her own website that dealt information regarding the population figures and locations of rare and important sightings; it even carried rumours about legendries. But on every page was an advert she set up asking for Shedinja sightings. There was even a cash reward of 10,000 pounds if your sighting was correct… but so far no proper luck. Most sightings were fake and the fraction that were real were owned by trainers, breeders or Co-ordinators. Compared to this her Singing career was about as important as a pinprick was compared to losing a limb.

Misty got a new azure blue swim suit that matched the colour of her eyes. She was still celebrating her present with Dawn who was amazed by her dress when Lance came in with 5 big presents, each wrapped in different colours.  
"Here are your presents from us" He said  
"Misty, yours is the blue one, Gary you have the red one, Victoria has the yellow one, Drew has the green one and Dawn, yours is the white one." Cynthia said as the children raced to get their presents and tore off the wrapping paper. Misty whipped the wrapping paper off in an instant and saw a Yellow egg in a gold cylindrical case, decorated in silver with ocean patterns like starfish, shells and on the top a crown. Misty looked around at the others and saw that they, too, all had eggs in different colours… all except for Victoria whose present contained a pair of expensive black sunglasses studded with topaz's and a golden Pokétch and Xtransceiver combined. Misty could see the disappointment flicker onto Victoria's face as she hoped that she had been given a Shedinja egg. But seconds after Misty saw it Victoria covered it up and masked it to the world by hugging her parents and then retreating to her room.

Misty bid her parents and siblings good night and headed up to her own room, placed her egg on her bedside table and headed back out into the corridor and into Victoria's room.  
"You OK?" Misty asked, Victoria replied by sniffing loudly and looking down at her feet  
"You know they got you a staryu egg right?" Victoria said  
"Yeah," Misty said, "I Figured it would be a staryu"  
"And they gave Drew a budew, Gary a tyrogue and Dawn a togepi"  
"Yes, I did think that that's what they probably where"  
"And no-one can find a Shedinja," Victoria said "There are no Shedinja eggs, no wild Shedinja, no people who want to trade. I can't get my hands on one and I've been trying for two years. I mean, I'm happy for you, getting a Pokémon you can truly understand… but… I…I-I don't think It's fair! I've worked so hard to find one and I still can't get my hands on any proper leads!"  
"I know this must be hard for you" Misty soothed "But we've been trying very hard as well for you. Gary spent more time on Pokémon adoption sites this year than he did eating, Drew put up a poster in every Pokémon centre we've been to and I've been charting possible migration paths by comparing Nincada's and Ninjask's. We've been trying for you"  
"I know, you're such a great family. Besides, I needed a pair of sunglasses, my Ghost half has been acting up again. It's painful to spend too much time in the sun, especially on the eyes"  
"Night Sis"  
"See you tomorrow Misty"

_Present day_

Victoria slid the Charm bracelet over her wrist, put her sunglasses on, picked up her carry case, carrying clothes, a wash kit, her laptop, some money, a school bag, some gadgets and a bit of makeup. She placed her parasol under her arm and proceeded to exit the room, she got out of the door and down the stairs when Drew came rushing Round the corner out of the dining room and ran straight into her.  
"Victoria!" He exclaimed after he picked himself up off the floor, "Sorry, I left my Watch com up stairs!"  
"Don't worry," Victoria said as she dusted herself off. "I'm fine" Victoria went into the Kitchen dinner to have breakfast and Drew legged it up stairs to get his Watch.

Drew saw his emerald green watch and clipped it on his wrist. He pulled his phone out of his back pocket and checked his mail… Inbox empty… or at least empty of anything he deemed important. Drew crossed the room and looked at himself in the mirror. _Yep _He thought _still smoking_. Drew loved looking good, although he didn't need to. Drew's awesome control over spores let him release pheromones into the air to make people like him, or hate him. He often got bored of toying with girls before he spoke to them. Drew looked down at his personalised utility watch and looked at his Hormone count, pretty low, Drew considered making it higher. His family where immune to it now and it would be funny to watch people stare at him in the street. _You know, _Drew told himself _as you're going to a NORMAL school you could at least TRY to be normal. _Drew stopped himself inflating his Hormone and Pheromone count, _besides; _he said _I can up it again later if I need to._

Gary was feeling Nervous when Victoria walked in the room, he had been nervous before in his life, and had vowed never to be nervous again. Unfortunately he just couldn't help himself. Gary raced through breakfast and spent the next 10 minutes wishing that his siblings would hurry up with theirs. He fiddled around with his watch, his own personal features including a quick Pokémon identification unit, a compound and element identification ray and a bug Pokémon tracker set with Shedinja's heat scan. If there was a Shedinja, a Ninjask or a Nincada in the area an alarm would go off and Gary would find it. Gary had never had the alarm go off before, but when it did… he would be ready…


	5. Chapter 5

Dawn was wearing her Blue, red and white dress. It was horizontally striped in those colours and went up to the middle of her thigh. She had in hand a white hand bag and white hair clips in. She got out of the Limo and onto the school grounds in style all right.

May Maple was a kind, cheerful brunette coming from a rich family and a nice upbringing. She had applied for Unova high with her best friend Leaf Green. They lived in next door mansions and loved nothing more than hanging around, watching TV and having fun. When she had first walked into the entrance of the school with her best friend she had been directed to the fourth floor, second corridor, Room A whilst Leaf had been on the same corridor, same floor only two doors down: Room C.  
"Guess this really is my room" May said as she looked at her name engraved in a brass plaque fixed to the door of room A  
"Yeah" Leaf said as she went down the corridor "And mine's on this door, this really is a posh school"  
"Who are you rooming with?" May said as she looked over at her friend's plaque  
"Someone called 'Misty Dragonclaw'," Leaf answered "Isn't she the most powerful gym leader in Kanto?"  
"Weird," May said turning back to her own door "I'm rooming with a Victoria Dragonclaw, Do you think they're related?"  
"NO WAY!" Leaf half shouted, half whispered  
"What way?" May asked  
"DO YOU KNOW WHO VICTORIA DRAGONCLAW IS?"  
"Umm… no… should I?" May asked getting more confused every second  
"She's only one of the biggest music artists on the planet right now!"  
"Well, if she's in this corridor she's in our form!" May said feeling happy that she was rooming with someone famous  
"I'm going to go in and un pack" Leaf said as she opened her door and looked into her room  
"Yeah, I think I will as well" May said as she put her hand on the crystal door knob.  
"Excuse me" a voice called as the corridor entrance door opened up "Do you know which room is room A?"

Victoria and May were unpacking together in Room A; there were two beds, one by the window and one by the wall. Victoria had mysteriously asked immediately whether she could have the bed by the wall. May had no objection to sleeping by the window so she decided to start unpacking into the chest of drawers nearest her bed and Victoria unpacked into the chest of drawers nearest to the wall. May hadn't learnt lots about Victoria but she knew her roommate was quite nice.  
"So, do you have any brothers or sisters?" Victoria asked "I've got two of each"  
"I've just got a younger brother called Max" May said as she took out her clothes and packed them in the chest of drawers "Is your sister Misty?"  
"Yeah, She is"  
"My best friend Leaf is dorming with her"  
"I hope she's prepared"  
"Why?"  
"Because Misty is intense"  
"What do you mean?"  
"She doesn't pretend or dull down her emotions, she will do what she wants too"  
"Leaf will definitely get along with her, Leaf agrees with every one"  
"What do you mean? Is she weak willed?" Victoria asked and Ma's temper flared up, no-one got to speak about her friend like that!  
"That's really rude!" May said, her view of Victoria changed immediately  
"I was just asking" Victoria said as she raised her hands palms out "I didn't mean any offence, I just want to know about Leaf before I meet her."  
"Ok" Said May, a bit wary of her new roommate "Well… she isn't weak willed, she just doesn't like to stick out in a crowd so she agrees to what people say"  
"What about you?" Victoria asked "What are you into?"  
"I'm into dancing" May replied and she blushed "It's not that special and I'm not that good"  
"What do you mean?" Victoria asked as she placed the last of her clothes in her drawers and placed her laptop on her bedside table "Dancing is really important. I always hold dancers in the highest respect, especially backup dancers"  
"How can you respect a backup dancer?" May asked "They aren't even really part of the show"  
"Think of it like this" Victoria said as she held up her brand new topaz encrusted shades. "These shades are the height of fashion; they are sleek, modern and stylish." Victoria used her nail to unscrew the screw holing the frame together and the glasses fell to pieces on the floor.  
"Without that screw the shades are little more than expensive looking junk" Victoria finished as she bent over, picked up the pieces and started putting them back together  
"There is still a show without backup dancers, but it isn't nearly as good. You're the screw in the shades of showbiz"  
"Wow," May said taken aback by the emotion and passion that Victoria had displayed "You dismantled your shades to prove a point?"  
Victoria twisted in the screw and placed the Sunglasses on her face  
"Hey, How else do you prove your point?" Victoria said with a smile and May giggled. Suddenly Victoria's phone went off; she swiftly picked it up  
"Hello, Gary, how can I help?" Victoria asked down the phone. There was some blabbering that May didn't quite hear but Victoria nodded her head.  
"Sure, I'll ask her. Have you called the others?"  
There was some more blabbering and Victoria rolled her eyes towards May who burst into a fit of giggles  
"Yeah, Yeah, Yeah We'll be there in 5 minutes, maybe 10" Victoria hung up and turned to May. It seems my siblings and their roommates are all meeting up in the school grounds. They're all there except us… Wanna come?"  
"Yeah, why not. Is Leaf there?"  
"Uh huh, and Misty."  
"Let's get going then"

May was walking beside Victoria when they approached the group that was hanging round a massive double picnic bench. When she was 10 metres away she caught the eye of a green-haired boy, sitting down on the bench. May's heart skipped a beat when she saw him smile in her direction and stand up to walk towards her. It was only when he called out "Victoria" that May's heart felt like it had smashed into a thousand pieces. The chartreuse haired boy hugged Victoria and whispered something in her ear. Jealousy built up in May and she looked enviously at the blond haired girl in the boy's arms. The boy broke off from the hug and turned to May  
"Well Victoria, who is your beautiful friend" The boy asked  
"My name is May" May said and she looked into the Green eyes. The boy produced a rose from his sleeve and pressed it into her hand.  
"And what a lovely name it is" The boy said as he flashed her a flirtous smirk.  
"Oh turn it off Drew" Victoria said as she sat down next to a brown, spiky haired boy.  
"Introductions?" A blue haired Girl asked the two tables worth of boys and Girls as May sat down next to Victoria and opposite Drew  
"After You Dawn" The brown haired boy said to Dawn who appeared to be the Blue haired girl.  
"Well… I'm Dawn, I own The Togekiss fashion Range that I design myself. I'm going to sign up for the Cheerleading team, I am also part of the Dragon-Claw family"  
"I'm rooming with Dawn," Said an orange haired girl "My name is Zoey, My family is rich because my dad owns a Company that supplies Co-ordinating supplies"  
"My name Is Victoria, I'm a music artist and I have a tour in November" Victoria said "This school is hopefully going to give me a break from the paps" Victoria winked at May  
"Well… I'm May. I like…" May looked at Victoria for conformation and Victoria nodded her approval  
"I like dancing, I'm not a leading dancer, I'm a backup dancer but I'm training for a lead"  
"Cool" Drew said "I'm Drew, also one of the Dragon-Claw siblings and I'm a master Co-ordinator and I'm told I am a major Flirt. I try not to get into relationships but I will if I meet the right girl." May felt like Drew was talking to her, even though he was flicking between all of the people on the two picnic benches. "On the other hand lots of girls ask me out,"  
"Yeah, Enough about you Grass head" Said the brown haired boy sitting next to Victoria "I'm Gary, I'm a Pokémon Trainer and I happen to be the champion of The Kanto region. Being the best of the Dragon-Claws-" Gary was cut off with a sharp elbow to the ribs from Victoria "Ok, ok! I was just kidding! Well… I have loads of Pokémon, great gear, and guess what else? I like sport too"  
"My name Is Misty and I am the last of the Dragon-Claws, I am a Gym leader and I love swimming. If you want to find me anywhere, chances are I'm in the pool." May noticed that Misty was the petite red-haired girl to the left of Leaf.  
"I'm Leaf Green," Leaf said "I hate it when people argue"  
"The name is Paul" Said lavender haired boy "I'm the champion of Sinnoh"  
"They call me Trip" Said a dirty blond Boy "I'm training to be Champion of Unova"  
"I'm Ash Ketchum and I want to be a Pokémon master!" A black-haired cap wearing boy said  
"And I love food"

Suddenly the bell went and everyone rushed toward their form room. Victoria grabbed May's hand and she sprinted for the door of the PE classroom. Victoria half helped, half dragged May through the door  
"AH, Miss Dragon-Claw and Miss Maple. So glad you could grace us with your presence." Said the Teacher  
"Sorry Miss" Victoria said to the teacher "We got lost"  
"Indeed, maybe next time you should get lost with a map"  
"Yes Miss" May said  
"Now, Students, My name is Miss Eterna, I run the PE department here and today, for your form building exercise you will all be doing some athletics." Said the teacher "I want you all to go outside and choose an event, 1500m, Shot put, High jump, whatever. I want you to record your scores on the sheets that have been left near each of the different events" Miss Eterna looked around the classroom "Who knows, some of you might get chosen for the athletics' team."

May decided on running the 1500m so that she could concentrate on all of the new emotions going through her head. She was overly shocked to see Drew stretching and Limbering up on the running track  
"You running?" Drew asked May and she felt her head grow light.  
"Yeah, I want to clear my head" May answered as she began to stretch and move her muscles ready for a good run  
"Hmm" Drew murmured as he began to jog off the start time, stopwatch in hand.  
"Well that's just rude" May said to herself as she picked up her stopwatch, set it off and started running up behind Drew. May looked into the centre of the running track to see Dawn doing Javelin, Misty doing High jump with Leaf, and Victoria doing Shot put. May began the bend to go round the track and noticed a boy… Gary she thought his name was… staring at Leaf's behind as she jumped over the bar, May gave Gary a sharp look and he noticed her hard staring at him and blushed a deep, bright red. Obviously he knew she had seen him. May looked over to where Trip and Paul where doing Discus. Suddenly her foot found the only dip in the running track and she fell head over heels with a clatter. She blacked out for a while, probably only a couple of seconds, and then sight returned to her.

Drew was looking down at her, concern clearly showing in his green eyes. He said something but May couldn't quite hear it, she tried to lip read but the Throbbing in the back of her head stopped her concentration. Drew bent down and picked her up. May's heart pounded in her chest as he carefully carried her over to the stands and gently placed her down on the bottom row seat.  
"Nice fall June" He said as he flicked his hair to the side  
"My name is May" May said as she turned her head to the side away from him  
"Arceus, calm down October" Drew said lazily as he sat down next to her "You all right?"  
"Why do you care" May asked him icily  
"Maybe I don't" Drew said as he turned his look out onto the track "I mean, I can't care that much about someone whose name I can't remember, right May?"  
"Yeah yo- YOU GOT MY NAME RIGHT!" May half said, half shouted at him  
"Did I December?" Drew said lazily as he got up to leave  
"You know, Gary was right" May said as she watched Drew turn away. "You really are a cabbage-head" May finished. Drew looked back over his shoulder  
"From where I'm from they call it chartreuse" He said and He walked away.

Victoria was with Paul, Trip and Dawn in the throwing circle Paul wasn't a big talker and Dawn was being suspiciously quiet, but Victoria couldn't help but like Trip. It was the way he talked that she liked, He was smart, and new a lot about everything she had mentioned but he didn't do an information over load like that other boy Conway. Victoria had just thrown her shot when she heard a faint click. She spun round to see Trip with a camera pointed at her.  
"What as that for?" Victoria asked curiously  
"I'm chronicling my journey" Trip said as he put his camera inside his jacket pocket  
"So you took a picture of me?" Victoria asked  
"No, I took a picture of the track"  
"Oh…" Victoria said, disappointed

Paul threw the Discus in a long arc; it landed half way into the ground and sunk deep into the grass. He started to walk forward to get it when a sound made him stop. It was an ear-piercing shriek that was coming from the Mouth of a certain Bluenette. Paul Turned around and saw that, crawling up her leg, was a Joltik.  
"Get it off me!" Dawn shrieked. Paul looked over at the bluenette's sister Victoria and saw a look of disgust on her face that quickly flicked to recognition and then to mild acceptance. Paul knelt down and picked the bug off of Dawn's leg. He then put it down to rest on the grass and watched as it scuttled away into the grass. Paul looked back up into the Dawn's cerulean blue eyes ad stood up, maintaining eye contact at all times.  
"Thank you soooo much" Dawn squealed as she hugged Paul. Paul felt a bush creep over his face and he fought to push a stony expression back on.  
"Troublesome" Paul said as he disentangled himself from the hug and went out to retrieve his Discus.


	6. Chapter 6

At the end of the form building exercise it was 3:30 and free time. Some people went to the Library, some people went to the cafeteria but Dawn, May, Victoria, Leaf, Misty, Paul, Drew, Trip, Gary and Ash decided to make the most of the sunny weather and sit outside on the field. They were all sitting at the throwing circle, except for Dawn, who was lying down sunbathing, Paul, who was leaning on the nearby discus cage with a book in hand, Drew, who was also lying down and Victoria who was looking around for something.  
"Hey guys!" Dawn exclaimed in a peppy voice "Let's play a game!" Gary shot her a questioning look and then caught on  
"Yeah, Ok Dawn" He said with his boyish smirk "What do you have in mind?" he asked, knowing full well what she was going to say  
"Let's play Cops and Robbers!" She said "We'll work in pairs, I'll go with Paul and we'll be the cops, Gary and Leaf can work together, Trip and Victoria, Misty and Ash, and Drew and May. You've got 5 minutes and then we're going to come and find you."  
"Alright, come on Leaf," Gary said as he grabbed Leaf's hand and dragged her towards the school.  
"Let's go Trip" Victoria called as she ran off after Gary and Leaf with Trip in pursuit.  
"Come on August" Drew called as he ran off towards the forest  
"It's May!" May shouted as she trailed after him  
"Hey Misty, come on!" Said Ash as he ran towards the gymnasium  
"I guess we're waiting for a while" Dawn said cheerily  
"Troublesome" Paul grumbled.

Victoria rushed down corridor after corridor till she found an old, unused classroom.  
"In Here Trip" Victoria called as she opened the door  
"Is there anything exciting in there?" Trip asked as he looked around the deserted art room.  
"No… just some old canvas's, some paint, paint brushes…And look! An easel!" Victoria answered  
"Let's shut the door and pull down the blinds" Trip said as he moved towards the door  
"Good Idea" Victoria said as she began to shut the blinds so that no one could see in. once Victoria had finished the blinds she drew up a stool and sat down at one of the Desks. The Dimmer light caused her long, blond hair to shimmer and the as Trip watched her from the table behind her she produced a small Joltik from up her sleeve and started playing with it on the table.  
"Is that your Joltik?" Trip asked softly  
"No…Dawn used it as a distraction on the field to work out whether Paul has a six-pack" Victoria answered with a hint of amusement  
"And does he?" Trip asked, curious to know what Victoria though of Paul.  
"From the look on Dawn's face, and the fact that she paired herself with him this afternoon, It's safe to assume so" Victoria joked as Trip sat down quietly behind the easel and carefully got out a pencil.  
"I mean… She's always been the popular one…" Victoria said as Trip started to sketch her "She was always the model and she had the streams of fans and Paparazzi outside our door. I only had a few compared to her, and I'm the Music artist" Victoria continued as she let the Joltik scuttle round and round her fingers, In and out of her hands, up and down her arms.  
"I'm an Orphan," Trip said "My dad abandoned my mother when she fell pregnant and my mother died in child birth."  
"I'm so sorry," Victoria said  
"Ah, Don't worry" Trip said as he finished the sketch "My mum's in a better place and my dad can go rot in hell"

"Come on Misty!" Ash called as he ran into the indoor pool area. "Let's find a good hiding spot"  
Misty looked down at the pool and assessed possible hiding spots. She looked down at the generator and recognised the same triple bladed anticlockwise turbines that she had in the Cerulean Gym. An idea dawned as she dived into the water. Ash looked on in shock as Misty swam under the side of the turbine and didn't come back up. Ash sighed and dived in precariously swimming towards where he last saw Misty. He felt a hand grabbing onto his arm as Misty dragged him towards an air bubble that was being created by the turbine and held in place by a ledge. Ash surfaced in the bubble with Misty barely more than 15 centimetres from his face. Misty felt in her bag and picked out a pokéball. She released it and a Lanturn came out. Misty sat on the Lanturn and held out a hand for Ash. He took it and clambered on next to her.  
"How did you know that there would be air here?" Ash asked Misty  
"I'm the Leader of the Cerulean Gym; we have exactly the same kind of Turbine. I've known about air pockets since… Like… Forever" Misty answered  
"Do you think they'll find us?" Ash asked Misty.  
"Not for a while," Misty said To Ash "It'll take Dawn a while to work out the Water currents and Paul doesn't look like the technological type"  
"In that case we might as well start to get to know about each other" Ash said brightly "I know this seems a weird thing to ask, but why don't you tell me about yourself?"  
"Well…" Misty said "I love swimming and my favourite Pokémon is Starmie, I have a Staryu egg but it hasn't hatched yet. My favourite colour is blue and every single piece of jewellery I own has water stones in it. What about you?"  
"I love eating. And battles." Ash said "Someday I'll start an all you can eat battle café!" Ash joked and Misty couldn't help but laugh. She looked into his brown eyes and smiled at him. Ash smiled back and before they noticed they had begun to lean into each other. Misty felt Ash's hand on top of hers. She felt a deep longing to touch him, to kiss him, to make him hers. She drew her hand up to his face and leaned in closely. Ash looked shocked and quickly withdrew his hand from on top of hers,  
"I-I'm sorry if I gave you the wrong idea Misty," Ash said worriedly "I don't like you like that, we've only just met!" Misty felt her heart breaking as her eyes filled up with tears  
"It's alright Ash, I'm sorry too" Misty said as her heart split down the middle over a boy she barely knew but loved with all her heart "You can stay if you want, but I just don't feel like playing cops and robbers anymore." Misty said as she got off Lanturn and Gave Ash its pokéball.  
"Give Lanturn back to me tomorrow" She said as she dived out from the bubble and off and out of the pool.  
"I really didn't want to hurt you Misty," Ash said to himself when she had gone "I'm just not ready"

Drew dragged May towards the forest that was on the school grounds. May was amazed. The massive trees seemed so much bigger than the ones in Hoen. She watched as Drew began to climb a tree, using its unfamiliar branches as easily as a Primape  
"Uh… Little help here?" May asked  
"What's wrong November?" Drew asked "Can't climb?"  
"Well… No" May said shiftily "I can't"  
"I guess I'll have to help out little Juney then"  
"How are you going to do that?" she asked as Drew jumped down from the tree  
"Jump on my back" Drew answered  
"I'm not doing THAT!" May half said, half shouted  
"Don't worry May" Drew said gently "I won't let you fall"  
"I-I'm not sure…" May said shakily.  
"Are you afraid of heights?" Drew asked quietly  
"M-maybe" May replied  
"In that case we'll find a new hiding spot"  
"A-are you sure?"  
"Yes, I won't make you feel bad May, I'll never do that"  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean that since I got here I have thought about no-one else, I have only thought about what I can do to make you happy, what can make you smile, what will make you laugh." Drew said as he locked his green eyes with her blue ones "I have known you for only a short amount of time but I know that I will never let you go. I would be your servant if only to get your approval. I love you May"

May stepped forward, towards Drew and kissed him, full on the lips. She could taste fresh mint and a hint of toxic sweetness that made her dizzy with energy. She felt his arms curl around the small of her back and heard the sound of him breathing through his nose. She ruffled her hands through his green, green hair as she deepened the kiss.

Suddenly a new hand appeared and pulled them apart.  
"Got ya!" dawn said as she grabbed May's hand  
"You two finished?" Paul sneered as he checked his watch, and May's face turned crimson.  
"Be quiet Paul!" Dawn snapped as she saw the violent blush on May's face.  
"Troublesome" Paul muttered but he stopped making comments.  
"You two might want to go back to your dorms" Dawn said  
"What about you two?" Drew asked Dawn  
"We'll keep looking for a while longer." She answered "We've only been doing this for an hour so I guess we'll look for another"  
"If Troublesome doesn't pass out" Paul smirked  
"Just shush Paul" Dawn said with more force.  
"We'll take your advice" Drew said as he reached his hand out for May and they walked back to the school.

Leaf was half asleep in the library when Gary decided to call it a day and take her to her dorm. They were halfway there when a girl came rushing round the corner and sent Leaf sprawling onto the floor.  
"Are you Ok Leaf?" Gary asked her as he offered his hand out to Her  
"Yeah," Leaf said as she took it and started to get up. But as soon as she put pressure on her left foot she screamed.  
"No, you're not," Gary said as he lifted her up in a bridal carry. "I think I'll escort you to your room, my lady"  
"Thank you kindly my dear sir" Leaf joked as she curled her arms round his head for support.  
"And To which room do I take you? Gary asked  
"To the room I share with the fair maiden Misty" Leaf answered back. After they had got up a few flights of stairs Gary started a conversation again.  
"So Leaf, how do you like school so far?" he asked her as they went down the corridor to her room  
"It's really nice" she said "I've never been to such an interesting school" they turned the corner and saw Drew and May deep in a ferocious kiss outside May's Dorm. Gary coughed loudly and They sprang apart.  
"Well… Someone's been busy" Gary said lightly  
"You could say that" Drew said sheepishly  
"May, Could you look after Leaf please, I need to have a word with my dear brother" Gary said with a voice of steel. May helped a limping Leaf into her room, but her gut instinct told her to listen in the keyhole.

"Do you have any clue what might happen if this gets out of hand?" Gary whispered aggressively  
"I have it under control!" Drew whispered back  
"To me it looked like you were eating her face off"  
"I had it under control!" Drew insisted  
"Tell that to Dad!" Gary said and Drew took in a sharp intake of breath  
"This is different!" Drew insisted "I Can do this!"  
"No, I forbid it!"  
"But"  
"BUT NOTHING!" Gary said angrily "Dad put me in charge. ME! And I will do my duty to protect us and anyone who gets involved!"  
"She wasn't in danger" Drew insisted  
"And Giovanni sent Victoria a birthday card," Gary said sarcastically "We will have a meeting with the others and then we will decide what will happen."  
"Ok" Drew Conceded.  
May gasped. There was something Drew was hiding. Something that they all where. May was in half a mind to open the door and demand to know why Gary was interfering with her and Drew's relationship but she decided to wait for a bit. After she heard a new voice in the mix she was glad she had.  
"What IS going on?" May heard Victoria say  
"Drew wants to be in a relationship with May" Gary answered  
"Pull the other one Gary, It's got bells on it" Victoria said sarcastically. May leaned in closer to the door.  
"YOU ACTUALLY DO?" Victoria asked incredulously and May felt hurt. She didn't think she was that ugly that Victoria would say something like that!  
"Drew, of all the things to do! She's an innocent third party!" Victoria said "I think you're a perfect match but really Drew, how could you?" May was confused. Victoria said they couldn't be together but now she said they were a perfect match.  
"I said we'd have a meeting tomorrow to decide what we're going to do. Misty has an attatchment too. She hasn't had Drew's luck though. She texted saying that Ash rejected her." Gary said  
"What are our options?" Victoria asked  
"Well either we open ourselves up to attachments or we close ourselves off completely" Drew answered for the first time since Victoria turned up  
"We'll talk about it tomorrow" Gary said firmly "And that's final. Now off to bed"  
"Night May" Drew called out and for a moment May thought she had been discovered. Then Gary subsided her fears  
"Good Night Leaf" He called out with less enthusiasm. May got up and looked over to where Leaf had been sleaping silently, unaware of the drama that could change everything between May and Drew. Victoria walked in quietly and motioned for May to come with her.  
"So," Victoria said as she opened the door to their Dorm "I heard you've been hitting it off with my Brother"  
"You could say that" May said coldly as she sat down on her bed; the one nearest the window.  
"Sheesh!" Victoria said "Talk about hard shoulder!" she teased "I'm only looking out for you!"  
"Yeah," May said sarcastically "By trying to split us up!" all of the colour drained out of Victoria's face.  
"How much did you hear?" Victoria whispered  
"Oh, don't worry," May said frostily "Just all of it!"  
"Oh, you must think we're awful people!" Victoria said apologetically "But you have to try to understand that we're helping you, we really are!"  
"I don't think that you are helping, really"  
"Let me ask you a few questions" Victoria said carefully  
"Go on then"  
"How much do you like Drew?" Victoria asked May  
"Enough to die" May said honestly  
"Swear it on Reshiram" Victoria countered  
"On the fate of my soul, with the Pokémon Reshiram as my witness, I hereby swear that I would die to save Drew" May said with one hand on her heart  
"This might be a weird thing to ask a teenager but Do you want to spend the rest of your life with him?"  
"That is a very weird question indeed. How would I know? But I really love spending time with him. There's just this connection."  
"Well… I don't know how this will end, but I think you should date him"  
"Gee, Thanks for your approval" May said sarcastically "Who are you? His Mother?"  
"I'm on your side here!"  
"There are no sides!" May countered "we're in a relationship!"  
"Has he asked you out?"  
"No" May said grudgingly  
"Have you asked him out?"  
"No"  
"And until we discuss this with Dad none of us are going to be in a relationship with anyone"  
"Why does this have anything to do with your Dad?"  
"You know what" Victoria exploded at May "I was going to support your side with Drew, My vote would be the deciding vote as Mum, Dad and Gary will say No straight away and Drew, Misty and Dawn will all say yes. But now, May Maple, I am going to think about whose side I'm going to take!"  
And with that Victoria grabbed her parasol and shades and stormed out of the room.  
"Oh Arceus, what have I done?" May muttered as she picked up her jacket and walked after her.


	7. Chapter 7

Gary was in bed when an alarm went off. It was coming from his Lap top. Gary knew that sound. It was the Shedinja alarm. He jumped out of bed and his roommate, Trip, shot out of bed.  
"What is that?" Trip asked, looking for the source  
"An alarm I set up myself." Gary answered "I'm looking for a Pokémon  
"Can you turn it off?" Trip said painfully and Gary flicked a switch on his watch and the siren turned off. But the boys were aware of another sound. Gary's phone. Trip picked it up  
"Caller ID is Victoria-" He began to say but Gary snatched the phone in a whirlwind of motion and hit the answer button  
"Gary! Gary! It's May! There's something wrong with Victoria! Help!" a crackled voice said down the phone. And then the screaming began.

Trip was running after Gary. There was something wrong with Victoria. Something very wrong. Trip followed Gary round a corner and saw Victoria lying on the floor with May crouching over her.  
"Move" Gary said to May as he kneeled over Victoria. "Get Misty and Dawn" Trip looked at Victoria and gasped as he saw a massive gash down her back, reaching from the base of her neck to the small of her back.  
"Call Juniper" Gary said as he threw Trip his phone.  
"What about an ambulance?" Trip asked  
"Call Profesor Juniper!" Gary thundered  
"GGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRYYYY YYYYYYYY!" Victoria screamed as she lay on the floor.  
"Just do it!" Gary shouted as Trip punched in the number.  
"Hello Gary, Juniper on the line" Came a female voice from down the line  
"Wait a moment" Trip said as he threw the phone to Gary.  
"Juniper!" Gary shouted over the screaming "There's something wrong with Victoria"  
Trip knelt down over the girl, now lying in a small pool of her own blood. Her grey eyes were bright and wide, like a wounded deer's.  
"Ok" Gary said down the line. "Trip! Turn her over!" He yelled at the Trip. Trip hastened to help, gently turning her over and setting her down on her front  
"It's massive," Gary said "it looks like it's… Getting wider!" Trip heard more talk from down the phone  
"No… It can't be…" Gary said back  
"WHAT DO I DO?" Trip shouted at him. Gary listened to what the mysterious 'Juniper' was saying and went deathly pale  
"No… there has to be another way" He whispered  
"WHAT DO I DO?" Trip repeated as Dawn, Paul, Misty, Leaf, Ash, Drew, and May came round the corner. Gary bit his lip.  
"Talk to her," He said "We need to talk"  
"NO!" Trip screamed at the top of his lungs "WE NEED TO HELP HER!"  
"AND I NEED TO THINK!" Gary yelled back as he walked off with his siblings.

"Hey, Victoria, It's me, Trip" Trip whispered to Victoria. She gripped his hand with her own, blood soaked fist and held on tight.  
"T-Trip" She muttered as she looked up at him.  
"Gary's talking to your brother and Sisters" He answered  
"Tell Him" Victoria said hoarsely "Tell Him your m-my representative,"  
"Ok, What do I do?" Trip asked the girl as she let go of his arm  
"I…Vote…Yes" Victoria whispered as her eyes closed.  
"VICTORIA?" Trip yelled "VICTORIA!"  
Suddenly Gary stepped round the corner, flanked by his siblings. A look of stone etched in his face. Dawn looked like she'd been crying and Misty was hanging limply onto Drew.  
"Does anyone have a bug or ghost type Pokémon with them?" Gary asked.  
"WHAT HAS THIS GOT TO DO WITH VICTORIA?" Trip shouted  
"ANSWER THE QUESTION!" Gary bellowed  
"I-I have a Butterfree" Leaf said  
"Get it out" Gary said "Get any Pokémon of either types out, NOW"  
Soon there was a Butterfree, a Gastly, a Beedrill, and Chandelure in the corridor. All of the Pokémon turned to Victoria and, as if ordered by a cosmic force, began to help her.  
"What are they doing?" Trip asked but Gary was back on the phone  
"They-They're" Misty started but could not carry on  
"There decomposing her organs" Drew finished  
"THEY'RE WHAT!" Trip yelled as he turned around to stop the Pokémon touching the girl. A pair of strong arms pushed him to the floor as Drew pinned him down  
"It's going to save her," Dawn whispered "Trust us"  
"I'm her representative" Trip shouted at Drew "How will this help her?"  
"You-YOU'RE WHAT?" Drew asked  
"Her representative" Misty said "She chose a representative"  
"Doesn't matter" Gary said to them "She's going to be all right"  
"She voted Yes" Trip said  
"SHE DID?" Drew asked  
"That was important," Trip ventured "Right?"

Drew didn't reply, but instead rushed over to May and kissed her. Trip took this opportunity to dash for Victoria. He got to her side but froze when he saw she wasn't breathing. _She can't be dead. She can't be. _Was all he could think as he looked at her seemingly lifeless body. As if reading his thoughts the Pokémon moved away and Victoria's eyes shot open. She sat up. She felt her back and would have lay strait back down if Gary hadn't suddenly been at her side and stopped her.  
"Are you OK Victoria?" Gary asked cautiously.  
"What happened?" Victoria asked  
"There is lots of explaining to be done" Answered Leaf as she looked at the Dragon-Claws and returned her Butterfree.

That night Trip sat alone on his bed looking at the sketch that he had begun to draw of the girl he loved. he stroked the pads of his first two fingers over her features and down her arm. Trip was angry, upset, annoyed, heartbroken, all at once and His head felt like it would explode. He reached under his bed and found his box of paints and his camera. Gingerly he turned the camera on and flicked back to the photo he had taken of Victoria at the Athletics stadium. In the background he could see Drew helping up May, their faces so close they could almost be kissing. To the left of Victoria he could see Paul pulling the Joltik off of an alarmed Dawn. Paul seemed to be almost smiling, not everyday Paul behavior at all, and slightly behind Victoria he could See Leaf clearing the high jump bar whilst Gary was definitely staring at her... Trip smiled, at least It was nice to know that Gary also had a weakness... along a bit He saw Misty and Ash in middle of a conversation. Trip got out his laptop and Laptop cable and hooked up his camera and his laptop, sending the picture across blew it up so that it was A3 size on his laptop. Trip then Found a spare sheet of Paper that was quite a bit bigger than A3 and began to copy the photo.

He focused on the stadium first and drew the rough outline with a pencil, then with precise skill he started to sketch his friends. He was just finishing the rough outline of Victoria's Shades when he noticed something on the original image... In her Dark Glasses the camera had picked out a reflection of his own face looking down the lens of the camera and so looking directly at Victoria... Trip noticed an unfamiliar expression on his face; a kind of smile that started as a happy grin but with a sad side with a bit of longing and lost thrown in... Trip was a bit shocked about how he looked in the image, He had never seen himself make that kind of smile, Trip felt exposed, as if that photo had captured all of his emotions and put them out for the whole world to see...

Trip got out his paints and began blending colors in an expert fashion; he started painting Drew first as he had just the right colour for his minty hair, then, when Drew was illustrated in a beautiful fashion, he moved on to May with her red clothes and Bandana. Then the high jump area where Gary and Leaf and Misty and Ash where. Then Paul, the muscle man, and Dawn the peppy Bluenette and Then... Her... Trip spent more time than normal on Victoria, not just because she was the biggest image or the most zoomed in by a considerable amount, but because he was trying his hardest to create the perfect colors for her. He was finishing the painting and hanging it up to dry when Gary walked into the room.  
"Is she OK?" Trip asked quickly as he turned to face Victoria's over protective brother

"So you see the delicate situation" Gary said as he sat down on the bed. Trip was amazed, he had never guessed that Victoria and her siblings where part Pokemon, much less secret agents...  
"So, she's not human" Trip said as he wavered between truth and what he wanted to believe  
"Not all" Gary said  
"And you're not either" Trip said coming to terms with it all  
"No, part Hitmonchan""Nice to know," Trip said as he sat down next to Gary "And you're saying she only has 30 or so years left..."  
"Yeah..." Gary said as he put his head in his hands "I've failed her"  
"No, you didn't know" Trip said as he comforted Gary "But what next? what do we have to do?"  
"You need to tell her," Gary said as he looked at Trip "You're her representative" 


	8. Chapter 8

The next Day, when Victoria came out of Juniper's lab she was met by Trip at the front of the school.  
"Hey Trip," She said lightly "Long time No-see"  
"Can I have a word?" Trip asked seriously and Victoria's face fell  
"S-Sure," She said. "Gary's already taken my luggage up to my Dorm, and its Saturday so of course"  
Trip led her to the classroom they had used weeks before to hide from Dawn and Paul.  
"What is going on?" Trip asked  
"Well… Nothing" Victoria answered shiftily  
"We both know that's not true" Trip answered  
"I-I'm not sure I can tell you" Victoria said  
"I'm your Representative. I need to know" Trip countered  
"You're not really my representative." Victoria shot back  
"Actually… I am" Trip countered "I spoke to Gary, He told me everything"  
"No… Gary wouldn't" Victoria said. Though she was slightly unsure now  
"He told me about how you and your siblings are part-part Pokémon and how you don't like the sun, and what happened. He told May, Ash, Paul and Leaf as well" Trip said calmly "I recon I know more than you do right now"  
"I will know when the team wants me to know" Victoria said quietly  
"They want me to tell you" Trip said quietly as he edged neared to Victoria  
"What happened then?" Victoria asked as she stepped in, close to Trip  
"Your now more Pokémon that any of your siblings." Trip answered as he reached out to Victoria's face. "You have a black rift in your back that scares the living daylights out of your siblings." He said as he placed his hand at the small of her back and drew her in close. "You have no organs, no heart, no lungs," He said as he caressed her cheek with his other hand. "And you stole my heart" He said as he kissed her. Victoria felt electricity zap through her as Trip kissed her. She ran her hands round his waist and pulled him in tight.

After a minute they broke up and Victoria saw his heart beating. She looked down at her chest and saw that her chest hadn't moved. She hadn't needed to breathe.  
"If I don't have lungs or a heart… How come I'm not dead?" Victoria asked Trip. Trip turned away and faced the wall  
"Y-You are Dead" Trip answered and tears rolled down his face.  
"I-I don't understand" Victoria stuttered "How can I be dead?"  
"You're a walking shell" Trip answered "You'll only live for another 30 or so years"  
"30 more years than I thought I'd have" Victoria said as she sat down at the desk and reached up her sleeve "Hey… Where's my Joltic!" She asked wondering where the little spider had got to.  
"You 'evolved' Into a Shedinja" Trip said as he drew out a custom made Pokéball "So when your energy escaped..." He said as he held it out to her "It patched you up. It's the reason your still Alive… or… not"  
"Where is it though?" Victoria said as she took the Pokéball "In here?"  
"Kind of…" Trip answered "When you evolved it… changed… because of the energy you were releasing…" Victoria opened the pokéball and out came a Ninjask  
"Let me guess…" Victoria said as she crooked her arm for the Ninjask to land "It's this Ninjask"  
"Uh… Yeah… Pretty much" Trip said. "Now… are you ready to see everyone?"  
"Yeah" Victoria said as the Ninjask landed on her head instead "Why not"  
"Ninjask! Ninja ja!" Ninjask said, on top of Victoria's head. And the two humans and one Pokémon exited the room and went down to see Victoria's friends and siblings.

May was halfway through a particularly nice kiss with Drew when Dawn saw Victoria and Trip coming out of the building, hand in hand.  
"Told Ya Gary" She said as Gary groaned and passed a fiver over the table.  
"What's going on?" Victoria asked as she sat down next to May and Trip sat next to Gary.  
"They were taking bets on whether You two would Kiss or not" May answered as Her and Drew broke away from the kiss.  
"The Silver lipstick on Trip really gave the game away" Drew said before May grabbed him and they started kissing again.  
"Don't you two ever STOP?" Gary asked sarcastically. Drew brought his hand away from May's waist and made a thumbs-down sign.  
"I take it we decided yes?" Victoria said as she grinned at the two, locked in an embrace.  
"Yeah" Misty said and sighed  
"Sorry Misty" Victoria said as she looked around "Hey, Where is Ash?"  
"He doesn't want anything to do with us." Dawn mumbled "he and Paul left a note"  
"Oh…" Victoria said sadly "Sorry guys"  
"Come on, It's not your fault" Gary said "you would have voted yes so Drew would have spilt the beans any way"  
"Are they still Kissing?" Leaf asked as she looked down the table "Oh, yeah, still going"  
"Have they even stopped since last night?" Victoria asked  
"Yeah, They did" Gary answered.  
"Is he.. Is he using…?" Victoria began to ask  
"Drew and May have come to an agreement"  
"What is this agreement?" Victoria wanted to know  
"Maybe you should ask her" Misty muttered  
"Maybe I will when her face de-suctions from my brother's" Victoria shot back  
"So now your angry 'cause May and Drew are happy!" Misty shouted  
"No, I'm angry because you're being selfish!" Victoria countered  
"HOW AM I BEING SELFISH?" Misty screamed  
"JUST 'CAUSE ASH REJECTED YOU YOUR BEING RUDE TO PEOPLE WHO ARE HAPPY!" Victoria screamed back  
"IF THAT'S WHAT YOU THINK!" Misty said spitefully "FINE!" Misty picked up her bag and left the table, heading for the school.


	9. Chapter 9

Misty was packing her bag when Leaf walked into the Dorm  
"Hey Mist" Leaf said as she sat down on her bed  
"Hey Leaf," Misty said as she continued to pack  
"You running?" Leaf asked as Misty packed in clothes and wash kit  
"No" Mist answered as she added her make-up and phone to the bag  
"It sure looks like it" Leaf said half-heartedly  
"Well I'm not." Misty said as she looked up and locked Leaf's gaze "I'm just…just…Getting away from it all"  
"Oh…" Leaf said sadly "You know, If you do this then people are going to think that your running away"  
"But I'm Not"  
"People will still think that your running though."  
"What do you want me to do about it?" Misty shouted "It's not my fault if they think what they think!"  
"Unless you give them reason to think it"  
"WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?" Misty screamed  
"Only that If you leave you'll be giving the impression that because Ash rejected you you're running away" Leaf said Calmly "Maybe if you stayed then you might be able to convince people that everything's fine"  
"Yeah… but I started packing…"  
"They don't know that"  
"You're a great friend Leaf"  
"Do you want to come down to the Archery range?" Leaf asked Misty  
"Sure, why not"  
"Get some shorts and a T-shirt on then, it's really hot outside"  
"I know. And It's only 10:00 in the morning" Misty laughed  
"Today's going to be a scorcher" Leaf agreed

Trip found Victoria on the Pokéringer track with her new Ninjask. She was in yellow shorts and a yellow sleeved white T-shirt with a yellow Pokéball pattern on. Victoria turned round and waved to Trip as Ninjask collected the hoop.  
"Victoria!" Trip called as he jumped over the barrier dividing the Pokéringer stadium and the Pokéringer field  
"Hey Trip" Victoria said as she turned back to Ninjask who was doing a series of swoops and dives with the ring. "Ninjask is doing great, Speed boost is an awesome ability"  
"Hey, Victoria…are… are we going out?" Trip asked as he blushed  
"I think so," Victoria said as she turned back to him "I mean… I would like that, very much"  
"Ok" Trip said as he went walked backwards toward the exit "You doing anything next Saturday"  
"Not anymore" Victoria winked at him  
"Ok, I'll get you from your Dorm at 8 next Saturday" Trip said as he Jumped back over the fence and jogged off  
"Nin, Ninjask Ninja" Ninjask hummed as in landed on Victoria's head  
"Yeah, Ninjask" Victoria said "He is cute"

Gary was on the basketball court. He was almost frustrated by the amount of things that had gone wrong in the three days they had been at school. Almost. Gary's Pokémon where all out and sitting in the stands. Blastoise, Nindoking and Beedrill where deep in conversation. Arcanine was asleep and Nindoquen was grooming Umbreon's fur. As Gary scored another basket Umbreon sighed.  
_"He's got something on his mind" _Umbreon said to his friends  
_"Well, after what happened to Mistress Victoria I'm not surprised" _Nindoquen answered  
_"And after that vote was passed…" _Blastoise added  
_"He blames himself for everything that happened" _Nindoking said  
_"Of course he does"_ Beedrill said _"You know as much as I do that he takes this more seriously than any mission that he ever took part in"  
"Did you hear about Mistress Victoria?" _Nindoquen asked the group  
"_Her and that strange boy Master shares a room with"_ Blastoise chipped in  
_"And Master Drew and that girl that Victoria shares a room with!"_ Nindoking said _"It's almost sickening!"  
"How?" _Nindoquen asked _"It's what makes them happy"  
"But It doesn't seem right" _Beedrill stated  
_"It is not our place to judge"_ Umbreon said to his friends  
_"But what if Master wants to become involved with one of the females in this place?" _Blastoise asked _"Then what do we do"  
"Then we let him do what we he wants" _Nindoquen answered "_He knows about humans more than us"_

Leaf slung another arrow to her forest green bow. She pulled back and released the arrow. Bull's eye.  
"Nice shot!" Misty called from the far end of the shooting range.  
"Thanks Misty!" Leaf called back. She brought another arrow from her matching green quiver.  
"How long have you been an archer?" Misty asked  
"Since I was…7-ish"  
"how are you so good?" Misty asked as Leaf released a second arrow into the golden bull's eye.  
"Practise" Leaf said as she placed slung her bow over her shoulder and went to retrieve her arrows.  
"What do you do, like, for fun?" Misty asked  
"I'm either hanging with May, or letting lose a few arrows in my archery range at home" Leaf answered.  
"What Pokémon do you have?" Misty asked  
"My first Pokémon, Venusaur, My first catch, Butterfree, My Raticate, My Omastar, My Rapidash and My Ditto"  
"Cool" Misty said "You have any Gym badges?"  
"All of the Kanto ones, Except the Cerulean one," Leaf answered "Your badge I haven't got"  
"Yet" Misty added  
"Yeah. Maybe I'll challenge you someday" Leaf said "But not today"  
"That's good, Ash hasn't given me my Lanturn back!" Misty joked and Leaf laughed as she picked out the last arrow from the target.  
"At least we're laughing about it now" She said as she walked back up the archery range.

Dawn was in her room with Zoey. Zoey was one of the only room-mates that hadn't been told about What Dawn, Misty, Drew, Victoria and Gary really where. Dawn had decided against it. She hadn't been there when Victoria had…Changed and so she had no clue that Victoria's disappearance for a whole day hadn't been because of an asthma attack. Dawn didn't want Zoey to leave her and push her aside like Paul and Ash had. Dawn had thought that Paul was a nice guy… Maybe she was wrong, but there was something about Paul that really appealed to her. She supposed that Misty must have felt the same when she read Ash and Paul's joint note of resignation from the group. Dawn checked her watch Com whilst Zoey put on a pair of sandals. She checked Victoria's Status:  
'Training for the Pokéringer'  
"Hey, Zoey," Dawn started "Are you going to take part in the Pokéringer contest?"  
"I don't have any flying Pokémon" Zoey answered as she fastened the clips on her sandals  
"I don't either" Dawn said as she closed her watch com and  
"So, what do you want to do today?" Zoey asked  
"You want to go down to the pool?" Dawn asked "The roof is open so we could sunbathe on one of loungers"  
"Ok" Zoey said as she picked up a bag  
"What's that?" Dawn asked  
"Bikini" Zoey said "What did you think?"  
"Get it out" Dawn said as she brought out her own bikini  
"OH ARCEUS!" they both said simultaneously as they saw they had the same pink bikini.  
"Don't worry," Dawn said as she picked up a different bag "I've got this one as well"  
"Let's see!" Zoey said, and Dawn pulled out a white Bikini combo with horizontal red and blue stripes.  
"Do you think it's good?" Dawn asked Zoey as she held up the top against her body.  
"Where on earth did you get it?" Zoey asked "Where can I get one?"  
"It's not out yet" Dawn said as she packed it back in her designer bag and slung the bag over her shoulder.  
"How on earth did you get it?" Zoey asked as she picked up her bag and opened the door for Dawn.  
"I designed it" Dawn said as she walked out of the dorm and Zoey locked it.  
"No way!" Zoey said as the two girls linked arms and walked down the corridor towards the stairs  
"Yeah!" Dawn said as they walked down the stairs. "You heard of 'Togekiss'?"  
"It's my favourite brand!"  
"I own and design for it"  
"OMG!" Zoey shouted  
"Yeah"  
"Why did you call it Togekiss?" Zoey said as they walked towards the changing rooms  
" 'Cause I love Togekiss?" Dawn said as she grabbed a changing room.  
"Good answer" said Zoey as she grabbed the next door changing room.

When Zoey got out of the changing rooms Dawn was already waiting for her in. Zoey had to admit that Dawn looked extremely good in her White bikini and Zoey was a bit jealous. But after a wave of dawns hand and a look at the pool Zoey forgot her jealousy. The pool was full of Jocks. It was like the whole male sporting society was in the pool.  
"Guess I forgot it was try outs for the male school swim team today" Dawn said as she shot Zoey a mischievous wink.  
"You weren't really here to sunbathe, where you?" Zoey asked as Dawn sat on a sun lounger facing the pool  
"That wasn't my first motive in coming here, No" Dawn said as Zoey sat on the lounger next to her.  
"What do we do now?" Zoey asked Dawn  
"We wait…" Dawn said with a mischievous glint in her eye "We wait…"

10 minutes later there was a crowd of boys sitting or standing around the two girls. The whole two sun loungers next to them where taken up by boys and there was a whole circle around the girls.  
"Looking good Babe" said a boy with blue hair draped in front of his face  
"Oh, My" Dawn said with fake surprise "Guess I didn't see all you boys here"  
"The name's Cress" the blue haired boy said "You might want to use it later" He flashed Dawn a flirty grin.  
"Charmed" Dawn said as she offered up her hand. "I'm Dawn" Cress kissed it.  
"And who is your attractive friend?" asked a red haired boy  
"I'm Zoey" Zoey said "And you are?"  
"They call me Chili" The red haired boy said "Cress is my brother"  
"I'm Cilan" Said a green haired boy "Also one of the Striaton Triplets"  
"Pleased to make your acquaintance" Dawn said as she got up. "Zoey, I think I would like to go for a relaxing dip in the hot tub. Would you like to come with me?"  
"Why not?" Zoey said as she got up and walked over to one of the massive hot tubs that had been installed for the students to use.  
When they got in Dawn leaned over to Zoey.  
"Those three are FIT!" She whispered  
"Yeah," Zoey replied "What's the game plan?"  
"How about we invite them in here and we get to know them a little better?" Dawn whispered  
"Great plan" Zoey said "It involves three fit guys and a hot tub. Couldn't get any better"  
Dawn looked over to where the triplets where standing and crooked her forefinger at them. The three Boys started walking over too where the hot tub was  
"Success" Zoey whispered as she moved over to create a big gap between Her and Zoey.  
"Ah, Boys" Dawn said to them as they lined up around the tub "Care to join us?"  
"Why, thank you Dawn" Cress said in a flirty way as he got in the Tub on Dawn's right side. Chili got in on Zoey's left side and Cilan got in in the middle.  
"We were just wondering," Chili said in barely more than a husky whisper "What do such beautiful girls occupy their time with?"  
"I'm a co-ordinator" Zoey said as she looked at him Sideways, assessing his high cheek bones  
"Ah," Cilan said "And how many ribbons do you have?"  
"I have the Sinnoh Master cup" Zoey countered as she lazily trailed her hand under the water and onto Chili's hand. Chili locked her gaze for a few seconds and then flicked it over to Cilan. Zoey felt his hand clasp hers. Dawn was paying particular interest to Cress. She kept laughing at everything he said. After a while Dawn caught Zoey's eye.  
"Hey Dawn" Zoey said "I think we should be getting back now"  
"Yeah Zoey," Dawn said "but who would carry our bags?" She asked in a mischievous way.  
"Allow us to assist You" said Chilli as he shot up and out of the pool. Cress Stood up and offered his hand to Dawn.  
"Why thank you" Said Dawn as she took the hand and stood up. Zoey lifted up her hand and Chilli drew her up and led her out of the hot tub. Cilan picked up the girl's bags and, Arm in arm, Chili and Zoey, and Dawn and Cress, left the pool, the girls still in their bikinis and the boys in swim trunks.

Paul was working out in the Gym that the school had on site. Ash was there as his partner and because since they both learned that five of the schools where part Pokémon hybrids Paul and Ash had been stuck together like glue. Paul was lifting his weights when he looked out of the solid glass wall that covered the south side of the Gym. Dawn was playing tennis doubles in a bikini and a short mid-thigh height skirt with Zoey who was wearing a pair of denim hot pants and a mega tight tank top. Paul looked out on the scene as the two girls passed volley after volley between Two boys, one with red, flame like hair and one with green short cut hair with a tufty bit at the front. As Paul looked around he saw a boy with blue dreadlocks or curls or whatever they were. Paul went back to his weights. He didn't care about that girl, Daisy or Delilah, or whatever. But deep-down in his heart of hearts he knew her name was Dawn, and he knew that no matter how hard he tried there would always be that small voice in the back of his head telling him that he liked her… more than he wanted to.  
"That's 50 Paul" said Ash as he patted Paul's shoulder. Ash watched his friend as Paul got up from his press ups.  
"Do you want to quit for the day?" Ash asked as Paul picked up his towel and bottle, Paul nodded and opened the door out into the evening sun. Ash walked after him and caught up with him as they entered the school.


	10. Chapter 10

The next morning Gary was picking up the mail from the front office when he heard a scream, It was loud and piercing and sounded like…like…  
_Victoria!_ Gary thought in his head as he sprinted for the door and ran into a corridor where she was lying on the ground, curled into a ball. Trip was standing there, his face the colour of strewn ash, reaching down to her, Drew, Dawn and May ran round the corner and looked at the scene infront of them. Some first years poured into the slim corridor and Gary fought his way with Dawn, May, Drew and a newly appeared Misty to be by his sister. Trip touched Victoria and she threw her head back and revealed her face. Her mouth was wide in a silent scream and her eyes were streaming with tears. Gary leapt down onto the floor and looked at his sister.  
"Vic, Victoria what's wrong?" he asked  
"The Shadows! The Shadows are coming!" Victoria said in a hoarse whisper  
"What Shadows?" Gary asked Victoria his face flickering with worry  
"He's coming, HE'S COMING FOR ME!" She screamed and Gary turned to look at his siblings for support  
"Who's coming?" Misty asked Victoria "Who's coming for you?" but Victoria was screaming again and Gary turned to the first years  
"CLEAR OFF" he yelled at them as he and Drew fought Victoria and carried her off to the school's hospitalisation ward.

Nurse Joy heard the next lot of ill students before she saw them. It seemed that one, blond haired girl was being dragged, screaming, into the ward by two boys, one with brown hair and one with green. Following was a small group of children that seemed to be following them. She shook her head; it was going to be one of those days… Nurse Joy walked over to the girl as the two boys tried to wrestle the girl onto one of the beds.  
"Relax, Victoria, Relax" The boy with brown hair said to the girl  
"Excuse me?" Nurse Joy said as she walked towards the bed  
"Please," a red haired girl said "She's in a bad state of mind"  
"And I think that you should leave it to me" Nurse Joy said as she leaned over the girl. Suddenly the patient screamed and then went deathly silent. She choked, opened and closed her mouth a couple of times and then fell still, deathly still. Nurse Joy raced towards the girl; she knelt down and felt for a pulse. Nurse Joy fumbled around some more and stripped off the girl's shirt.  
"No pulse!" Joy exclaimed  
"She is safe" said Gary as he relaxed and laid his face in his hands.  
"She's dying, I need to perform CPR" Nurse Joy said as she lent forward to help the small blond girl.  
"Here Nurse, you should read this first" Misty said as she pulled out a letter and handed it to her.  
"I'll do the CPR" Dawn said as she expertly started the first aid procedure the whole family knew Victoria didn't need. Nurse Joy looked up from the letter and at the group of children gathered at the bedside of Victoria.  
"Which of you are Dragonclaws?" the Nurse asked and the four siblings raised their hands.  
"Come with me" The Nurse said as she pushed the mobile bed that Victoria was on into a private room.  
"You children really don't look different" The Nurse said as she started hooking up Victoria to a complex computer system.  
"No, we don't" Drew said as he watched the Nurse "And It is important that our real natures be left in…for want of a better phrase… the shadows"  
"I can monitor your sister if you want" The Nurse said as she turned to the siblings "Or you can try to work out what is wrong… I would recommend venturing into the world of myths and Legends… The world of science has seen nothing like you five ever before."  
"Agreed" Misty said  
"But in the meantime…" Dawn started letting her mind wander over what must be done  
"We need to find a way of skipping lessons…" continued Drew  
"So that we can do the research" Finished Gary  
"I can help with that…" said Nurse Joy "After all, this is an emergency"

The four siblings, Trip, Leaf and May where in the school Library, each had come down with a different and strange disease that varied from a very bad throat to a skull smashing migraine.  
"That was clever though" Trip said, examining his out of lesson's pass, signed by Nurse Joy "I mean, sick students always go to the library to catch up on studies"  
"Yes, and we can marvel at it when Victoria gets better" snapped Gary  
"Right…" Misty said taking charge "After listening to what Victoria has said and examining what state she is in I have come up with a few research topics that we need to focus on. These topics concentrate on all of the variables that are in play here," Misty looked over at Gary "Gary, I want you to concentrate on the biology of Shedinja, I know you've done so before but we need something that we've missed or looked over…" Misty switched her attention to Trip "Trip, I need you to work on 'The Shadows' see if at any point in history or, in Legends the phrase 'He is coming' or 'He's coming for me' or something along those lines, see if it's been said before." Misty looked over at Drew "Drew, The important thing right now Is Victoria… I want You and Leaf" Misty glanced over at the brunette "To watch her and make sure she's Ok, any muttering or talking, any movement, anything, write it down and keep a log" Misty then turned to May "May, you and I will research mental cases-"  
"SHE IS NOT MENTAL!" Gary shouted and the librarian scurried into her office  
"No, but people would assume that any case similar to hers is" May said defending Misty's plan  
"And Me?" Dawn piped up eager to be of assistance  
"Most of Victoria's fans watch her social networking accounts like a hawk," Misty said revealing her master plan "Victoria always posts stuff on her account on 'Poképic' and people will notice if she stops"  
"So I'll pretend to be Victoria?" Dawn asked curiously  
"And you'll stir up trouble" Misty said "Trip do you have an account?"  
"Yeah," Trip said as he looked up from a book about ancient Myths  
"Then we'll make your relationship global" Misty said "Dawn, you will use Trip's account to spread the news to the world and Keep the Press busy"  
"Good Plan" May said as she looked over a mental records portfolio  
"Indeed" Gary said, halfway through a book on Bug Pokémon.  
"Let's get going" Misty said as she stood up to help May. Drew and Leaf took off for the hospital ward.

Drew was sitting in private room on his own. Leaf had volunteered to do the night shift and It wasn't proving to be that interesting. Drew looked over at his Sister, She was so still she might have been dead. Drew was suddenly aware of a tapping noise coming from his right. He looked over and saw Victoria's Ninjask tapping against the glass. Drew flicked the catch and opened the window. The Ninjask buzzed in the room and dropped a bundle of flowers onto Victoria's pillow. Drew looked at the flowers, he'd never seen flowers like those before… they were like violet tulips; velvety and weight free, but the ends of the petals where covered with golden swirl patterns. Drew went forward to pick them up but Ninjask buzzed aggressively at him. Drew looked down at Victoria's snow white face and saw her eyelid flutter… Drew raced forward and knelt at the side of Victoria's bed, right where her face was.  
"Victoria," he whispered "Victoria, it's me… Drew" something about that sentence clicked in Victoria's mind as her eyes fluttered open… Drew gasped and took a step back; Victoria's left eye was black!

"So you're saying she can't see out of that eye?" Gary asked as he peered at the various scans that Nurse Joy had printed off  
"and she seems to be incapable of speech at the moment" Drew said as he placed one of the strange tulips on the table  
"That's the plant?" Dawn asked as she peered at the pretty flower on the table  
"What do we have then?" Gary asked as he sat do with the team they had assembled.  
"Well… I have found a legend about a Pokémon that hunts down and traps people and Pokémon." Trip said pushing a book into the middle of the table. "Often the victims would be female girls of our age"  
"Highly unlikely" Gary said "Anything else"  
"I have two more possibilities" Trip said as he turned the book a couple of pages "This is an interesting story," He started "About a Pokémon that preyed on the souls of young virgin women of exceptional beauty. It relied on its minions to trap and feed on them."  
"Almost as unlikely" Gary said sighing "Got anything decent?"  
"Well…" Trip said picking up an old leather bound book covered in runes "In this book It speaks of a legend concerning a Dark force that can change shape, It took pleasure in tormenting people out of their minds and then consuming their soul's energy and hiding it somewhere."  
"Um… Trip?" Dawn said hesitantly "They're all the same story"  
"Exactly" Trip said "Three similar stories in three different regions originating in different time periods, suspicious eh? Kanto 1378, Sinnoh 1496, Hoen 1562-"  
"Hoen 1562?" Misty asked going over a science document "There are loads of mental cases in Hoen in 1562! Loads of Girls our age and a bit older ended up with files. Most of them ended up with lasting or life time treatment."  
"I've got papers for Sinnoh 1496," said May as she picked out papers from a folder "See, in some of these papers it mentions that the subject mentioned something was out to get them"  
"Oh Arceus!" Gary exclaimed "someone is trying to suck out Victoria's soul!"  
"And we still don't know what is going on with her eye and that flower" Drew said as he stood up  
"I think it's my turn to watch over Victoria" Leaf said as she stood up and headed for the door  
"I'll swap in two hours" Dawn said as she clicked on her lap top "By then I'll have stirred up enough damage to give every girl on the planet something to gossip about"

"Hey Victoria" Leaf said as she opened the door to the private room that Victoria had. Leaf looked over at the girl to find her sitting up, staring at her with one crystal blue and one night black eye.  
"Are you Ok?" Leaf asked as she sat down on the chair next to the bed that Victoria was sitting in. Victoria tilted her head on one side in a move that was curiously insect like and yet similar to the movements of a small child wanting to understand the world.  
"Trip and Gary are really worried about you" Leaf said watching as Victoria blinked, as if trying to remember something… Victoria's eyes opened wide with understanding and knowledge  
"Gary!" Victoria shouted "Gary don't leave me!" Leaf tried to reason with Victoria but it seemed that she was in a trance  
"Gary please! I can't do it! Don't make me! Don't leave! Gary!" she screamed and held her arms out to someone who wasn't there… clutching, grasping, pulling at thin air as if Gary really was there, just out of her reach. Nurse Joy came running in with a cell phone  
"Yeah, we need you now" She said down it as she watched Victoria writhing and struggling "She needs you now anyway"

Gary came racing into the room as a hysterical Victoria screamed and shouted for him.  
"Victoria! I'm here" He said as he stepped forward into her arms "Don't worry, I won't make you do it, you don't have to"  
"G-Gary is that you? Speak to me!" Victoria whispered as she pulled him close and hugged him, still not seeing him properly but feeling him all the same.  
"Is she ok?" came a hushed voice from the doorway and Gary looked over. It was Trip, covered in sweat and pale from fright, he looked older than he was by at least ten years.  
"I'm Ok Trip" Victoria said pushing out one hand towards the sound of the voice "Trip why doesn't anyone talk to me?"  
"What do you mean? We've been talking to you all the time" Gary said looking at his sister  
"Trip? Trip? Please, everything is silent!" Victoria said as she waved her hands out, Gary apparently forgotten.  
"I think she can only hear Trip's voice" Nurse Joy said "Trip has never spoken to her in this state before, It makes sense, ask her something?"  
"Er… Victoria" said Trip stepping forward nervously "Can you hear me?"  
"Of course I can Trip" Victoria gushed reaching for his voice but not seeing anything. "Trip, everything is dark, and quiet, stay with me"  
"For as long as It takes" Trip said through the tears that were streaming down his face. He stepped forward and held her hand between his two "For as long as it takes"

"Well, it seems to me that Victoria's nightmares can be solved with a solution of these strange tulips." Nurse Joy said "Although why it works is more of a mystery."  
"I think I know how to cure her…" Leaf whispered to the group  
"WHAT?" they all shouted  
"HOW?" shouted Gary  
"Well… I was thinking about it last night… If something is coming to get her we have to stop it… It's making her go all strange… only she knows what it is… but the only person who can communicate with her is Trip…Trip is emotionally intertwined with Victoria… the only other person who she responded to is Gary… Gary is her closest family member… I think that if Trip could work out what I coming to get Victoria then the three of them; Victoria, Trip and Gary, need to destroy it. We can help but They would have to do it… It's logic, To cure her in the meantime we need to use those flowers, Ninjask can get them for us, and mix them with some strong medication. Trip can get Victoria to take it no problem."  
"Leaf, you are amazing!" Gary said and he leaned forward and kissed her forehead. Leaf blushed a deep red and turned her head away  
"Now," Gary continued "Ninjask will need all the help we can give him. We need all flying Pokémon to help him gather these plants for Victoria"  
"Ok, I'll collect the Pokémon" Said Dawn as she began taking pokéballs off of the people gathered round the table.  
"Where is Ninjask?" Drew asked  
"He's gone on another flight to find the flowers" Nurse Joy said "I recon he'll be back by next Monday"  
"That's six days!" Exclaimed May  
"I'll write up Trip and Gary six day lesson passes, but the rest of you can do your work, there's nothing to do for six days"


	11. Chapter 11

Trip woke up in a chair next to the bed. His hand was still holding Victoria's and as he looked up at her face he saw that she was twitching, as if trying to get something off of her. Trip grabbed a bad of dried purple tulip petals and held it under Victoria's hand. She immediately relaxed and her blind, unseeing eyes opened  
"Trip?" She whispered  
"I'm here" Trip said squeezing her hand "I'm here"  
"He was coming for me, he got much closer"  
"Who did?" Trip asked Victoria, his eyes raking her face for signs of pain and suffering.  
"You can't tell Gary," Victoria said "It would destroy him, Promise?"  
"I Promise"  
"Gary's chasing me"  
"W-What do you mean?"  
"He's the one chasing me"  
"How…"  
"He is… every time I see what it is… It's Gary… Gary surrounded by shadows"  
"How can we stop him?"  
"There's a flower"  
"Yes…"  
"I keep seeing it when I'm running… I'm running through a field and it's covered in purple tulips"  
"With gold?"  
"Yes with golden swirls round the tip"  
"What do we do with them?"  
"If you crush them with… something"  
"With what"  
"I don't know…It's hard to see…"  
"What could it be?"  
"It's a crystal… It's a blue crystal"  
"Where can we find one"  
"It's in a cave, I think it's in Sinnoh, in Mount Coronet"  
"how do you know Victoria?" Trip asked worried about a trap  
"I can feel it"  
"We'll find it"  
"Gary can't know…It would kill him"  
"OK, I promise" Trip leaned forward and kissed her.

Misty was writing an essay for her science teacher in the Library when Ash walked in with Paul. Her eyes flicked over to him and they made eye contact. Paul and Ash walked over and sat opposite her.  
"Misty..." Ash whispered "H-How's Victoria?"  
"She's not exactly great, thanks for asking" Misty said with a voice as cold as ice "The clues where in the fact that she doesn't respond to anyone and appears to be half blind"  
"Well... I think I can help" Ash said as he held up a silken pouch  
"Whats in the bag?" Misty asked curiously  
"A blood stone" Paul answered  
"A what?" Misty said incredulously  
"It's a stone that is either blood red or electric blue, It has been used in medicines since forever" Paul said quickly  
"And how will this help?" Misty asked as she took the pouch and pocketed it  
"It has a mineral that helps Bug type Pokemon recover" Ash said  
"Where did you find It?"  
"I was given it by Cynthia actually" Paul said "It helps Pokemon grow stronger, the healing is just a side effect"  
"What is the difference between when It is red and when It is Blue?" Misty asked with a lump in her throat  
"Well... When It's blue it heals" Ash said carefully "But..."  
"When It's red It destroys" Paul finished.  
"Destroys what?" Misty asked  
"Your mind an-" Paul started but Ash cut in.  
"This is about Victoria, when this stone is blue it will heal her" Ash said as he got up, "Now, we need to go" and Ash walked out of the room with Paul hot on his heels. after a couple of seconds Misty followed suit but headed towards the medical ward.

"so you're sure this will help her?" Gary asked as he held the glowing crystal in his hands,  
"Positive" said Misty as she picked up the silken bag and placed the crystal in it.  
"How do we keep it blue though?" Drew asked as he looked through a thick book on minerals and healing properties.  
"I don't know," Misty said as she pocketed the bag "We need to find out that before any action"  
"I'll look after It" Gary said as he held his hand out for it  
"OK?" Misty said as she brought out the bag and gave it to Gary.  
"How is Victoria?" Dawn asked as she leafed through an equally large book on healing herbs.  
"Trip spends all of his time with her" Gary answered with a voice of steel  
"But how is she?" Dawn asked again  
"She's making progress, Trip is speaking to her in conversations now" Drew answered  
"I should be helping her" Gary said with agression  
"It doesn't matter, she's being helped and that's all that matters" Misty said  
"But It should be ME!" Gary shouted  
"You're jealous!" Drew whispered "Thats why you want to help so much, you want to be her champion!"  
"This doesn't matter at the moment" Dawn said curtly "All we need to do is help her back to health"  
"I know what we have to do, It says so here" Drew said flicking back to the problem with Victoria and not quite meeting eyes with Gary. he pointed to a ritual in his book. "All we have to do is place the Crystal on her head at night and that will help her recover. The rest is down to her."  
"So this will all end?" Gary asked still not looking at Drew  
"Effectively all that we will need to do is help her recover and then" Drew answered  
"We can work on destroying what ever monster was causing this" Gary cut in  
"I think we're working with much more powerful forces than we can manage" Misty said and Dawn nodded her agrement  
"I don't think so" Drew whispered and everyone looked over at him with shocked expressions "I've just worked out who caused it"  
"WHO?" Gary shouted  
"That spider... thing that we met on the Darkball mission. It spat into Victoria's eye, didn't it? and It came out of the shadows, and Victoria blew up the whole base, didn't she? what if it hadn't finished with her...? or us...?" and the five began runing to thye hospital ward, remembering the Danger Victoria and Trip where in...

Trip was sitting with Victoria when he heard a scratching on the window. he turned slowly and saw an Ugly, scared face attached to a spider body. It looked evilly at him with glowing red eyes and smashed open the window. Trip flung himself in front of Victoria to protect her as the Gargantuan spider body pulled it's way into the room. Trip was hit with a sickening smell of rotten flesh and decomposed limbs. he wanted to retch but he stood his ground in front of Victoria.  
"Ohh, whats this" the Spider teased as she turned her head to the side and cackled teasingly.  
"Get Lost Spider face" Trip shouted and picked up the ward chair brandishing it like a club.


	12. Chapter 12

The spider creature slashed it's claw at him and Trip dodged. Trip flung the chair but it splintered as soon as it hit the spider's back. The massive monster moved towards Trip and swatted him out of the way with a purple and red mandible.  
"you're going to have to do better than that deary" it cackled as it snatched up Victoria and held her body out of Trip's reach.

Suddenly the door flew open and Gary stood there, his face covered in rage and anguish. Gary ran forwards his fist burning like a fireball and tried to land a punch on the disgusting creature but was cut short by a string of sticky thread that latched him to the wall. Misty began to create a ball of water but was cut short when she was also caught up in a blast of bug thread. Dawn extended her wings and tried to fly but the ariados half breed snatched her down and delivered a shocking kick that knocked her unconcious.  
"i'll be off now" the ariados creature said with loathing and contempt.  
"not with my girlfriend you demon!" Trip shouted as he charged in a desperate attempt to stop the monster. The creature turned and Trip's head smashed into it's rock hard abdomen. Trip vision started to blur as he saw the Spider leave with Dawn... and Victoria! He tried to move but ended up in immense pain. he could just see the blurred face of Drew as he lost consciousness and fell into the void.

Trip awoke to shouting from Gary and Leaf.  
"YOU CAN'T LEAVE US OUT NOW!" Leaf screamed to Gary as she stomped her foot on the floor  
"IT'S MY FAMILY NOT YOURS!" Gary shouted back  
"Well, no offense" Came a voice from the corner "But you're going to need all the help you can get" Trip looked over and saw Paul leaning leisurely against the wall  
"OH AND NOW YOU CARE!" Gary yelled"No," Paul answered "now you need my help"  
"Gary, we need help" Misty said as she looked over at Ash and Paul  
"Yeah, you do" May said  
"I would like to make a point" Drew said quickly "We need to make a vote"  
"WHY?" Gary shouted  
"Because that's what we have always done, Isn't it?" Drew countered "We're going to call in Mum and Dad and we will all vote on what to do, ALL OF US" Drew said  
"Here, Here" Trip groaned as he lay in bed

"Then It's settled" Lance said over video message with his family "You can chose if you want to help or not"  
"Find her you lot, won't you" Cynthia whispered as she turned off the video cam and began sobbing into Lance's shoulder.  
"Don't worry Honey, They'll find her," Lance said as he comforted his wife "They'll find her"

"Whats the plan?" Drew asked as he and the rest of the 'team' sat around the table in the hospital conference room  
"We need to get stronger" Gary answered  
"We need bigger numbers" Misty said  
"We need a weapon" Paul said  
"No," May said and everyone looked at her "We need a combination"  
"Yeah!" said Leaf, cottoning in on what May was saying "You're right"  
"WE need to become the weapons, US" May said gesturing at the other pure humans  
"Convert us to hybrids" Said Leaf enthusiastically  
"No, No No' Drew said holding his hands up "Not happening"  
"Yes Drew, Yes" May answered "We need to help Victoria  
"And Dawn..." Paul muttered  
"OK," Gary said and the whole table looked over at him in shock; Gary was the last person they thought would agree  
"We need to get a move on, we can do this, Who knows what is happening with the two girls" The whole table nodded in agreement  
"I have a confession" Paul said as he stood up "I haven't been entirely truthful, Don't Judge Me..." and before their eyes Paul began to glow with a dark, pulsing light that consumed him. His shape changed into that of a four legged creature. as the dark mist faded it became apparent that paul was now... a Mightyena

"Well..." Drew said "That was certainly...Interesting"  
"How come you don't hang with us though?" Misty asked looking at Paul  
"I-I can be dangerous" Paul said quietly "I didn't want anyone to get hurt, and Mightyenas often attack other Pokemon, Imagine if I had attacked any of you..."  
"I understand Paul" Leaf said comforting him with kind words  
"That's one less person to change" Gary said enthusiastically  
"So who is human and is willing to try to change?" Misty asked the group  
"Me" May said as she raised her hand  
"And Me" said Leaf  
"I want to help" Said Trip  
"I'm going to help too" said Ash  
"But..." Misty started  
"I'm going to do my bit for my friend!" Ash said defiantly  
"Oh Kay" Drew sighed and Gary knodded  
"We don't have much time," Gary said "We need to get to Juniper's Lab now"  
"How are we going to get there?" Ash asked  
"We fly of course" said Leaf as she got out on of her pokeballs

"JUNIPER!" Gary shouted as he pounded on the door "PROFESSOR!" the door opened an professor Juniper stood there  
"Gary? what's going on?" She asked as she opened the door to let them all get in  
"There is no time to explain" Drew said quickly "But Victoria and Dawn are in Danger and we need your help"  
"How can I help?" Juniper asked quickly  
"We need you to convert us into hybrids" Trip said and watched as horror played on Juniper's face  
"I-I can't do that..." She stuttered "I-It's Impossible" Juniper turned around and was hit with an Idea  
"Or maybe It's not!" she said as she swiveled round again "I have an Idea, and If it is an emergency then I'm afraid you lot will have to chose the DNA from a Pokemon that you own; We don't have much time"  
"Alright" Said May, "I choose Blaziken" she said as she released the Fire and Fighting type"  
"I'll go with Venusaur" Chose Leaf as she released her Pokemon  
"I'm going to go with Raichu" Said Ash as he got out his Raichu  
"I'm going to choose Serperior" Said Trip as he released the final pokemon needed for this transformation; a slithering grass snake.


	13. Chapter 13

"I've taken DNA from all of your Pokemon and It is safe to say that we can begin" Juniper said as she held up a collection of test tubes "they're all labeled so just drink them and wait for the DNA to merge with your own" Juniper said as she placed the Tubes on the table and sat down with a camera and notebook to record the results.  
"I'll go first" said Trip as he picked up a test tube full of emerald green liquid. He picked it up, looked down at his Serperior and gave it a nod,  
"Bottoms up" he said as he tipped the mixture down his throat. Trip doubled over in pain as he felt himself changing. He pulled off his jacket and T-shirt to reveal secondary gold rib cage growing over the top of his chest. It grew down in an ornate triangle that reached the bottom of his sternum and covered his Upper chest in a golden yellow colored bone. He looked over at a mirror that had been placed leaning against the wall and saw that his hair was now shimmering with a kind of green sheen, Trip felt a pain in his Coccyx and saw that a tail was emerging from his trousers. Serperior looked at the tail with shock and almost passed out. Trip looked over at Leaf who had just finished transforming and had discovered that she had grown numerous flowers in her hair, not dissimilar to the flower that her Venusaur had on it's back. Trip also noticed the small green tinge that was around her scalp. Trip saw Ash fighting with some static electricity that was shooting out of his hand and May growing slightly taller and more muscular.

After the growing and changing had Finished Juniper gathered them round.  
"You will all have inherited the moves that your pokemon knew," she said quickly brushing a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "Now you lot need to go rescue your sisters!"  
"Right guys!" Gary said "Let's get going!"  
"Autobots; move out" Leaf said and even Gary couldn't contain his laughter.

The team was back at school trying to work out where the spider and the two girls where  
"I think they're at Viridian forrest" Said May pointing to the location on the map they had between them "Ariados is a bug type"  
"No, I think they're in the next team rocket base in Goldenrod" Misty said  
"Lets face it" Drew said as he placed his hands on the table "We don't know where she is" suddenly Gary's phone started ringing. He picked it up gingerly  
"Hello, this is Gary Dragonclaw" He said and the table became aware of a wide variety of sounds coming from down the phone  
"Putting you onto speaker now" Gary said as he hit the button  
"Hello you three" said a menacing and familiar voice and Misty took a sharp intake of breath "I've come to make an offer"  
"What do you want?" Drew asked as he stood up from his seat at the table  
"Revenge" Came the sinister and imminent voice "I want to kill you all"  
"Have... Have you...?" Gary whispered and fear rushed through his body  
"Killed the girls? Oooh no, not quite yet" the malicious and very mad voice said from the virating phone "I want to have some fun first! We're going to play a game!"  
"A game?" Misty questioned as she looked at the group  
"Yes, a fun little game" Came the voice and Misty shuddered with dread "You get the two girls back for it too. The object of the game is not to die! I'm going to chase you through a maze and all you have to do is get through it without me killing you, If you make it you're free to live... but if you don't... and I catch you..."  
Misty shivered and thought about her two siblings. "Bring you're little friends, especially the blond one, he'll be tasty"  
"Where do you want to meet?" Gary asked thinking ahead  
"Tomorrow at midnight at the Castellia city maze" the voice said "Don't be late" and then the tone played and Gary snapped his phone shut  
"Well... we know where they are" Drew said as he slumped into his chair.

Gary had taken all of the team to his house so that they could pick up the best gadgets for the job.  
"Right, now here's the plan" Lance said as he took charge of the proceedings. "You will rendezvous here with the enemy and your siblings" Lance said authoritatively as he pointed on a projection of the maze and surrounding area with a laser-pointer  
"Then you will split off into two teams;Team A and Team B. Team A will be lead by Gary and will pick up Victoria. It will also have Trip, Leaf and Misty. Team A will go Left first when they get into the Maze. Team B with be lead by Drew and will pick up Dawn, It's other members will be Paul, May and Ash. Team B will go right first. What ever Team gets followed by the Spider will then lure it away from the other team and fight. Team leaders, It is your job to catch it unawares. Once you have created enough Debris The Team leader will signal on their watch com with three bleeps, Amber for A and Blue for B. Then everyone will go to invisible and split off into a pair and a three; Trip and Victoria and Misty, Gary and Leaf, Paul and Dawn and Ash, May and Drew. Then everyone needs to get to the Exit. Let me take you through the gadgets" Lance picked up a black suit with Gold seams "This is the invisisuit, It can vibrate to such a speed that the wearer can become invisible, You will each be given one to wear and there will be one for Dawn and one for Victoria. The suits are matched to your equipment colours; Victoria is Gold, Dawn is Pink, Misty is Dark Blue, Drew is Green, Gary is Silver, Ash is Blue, Leaf is Dark Green, Paul is Purple, May is Bright Red, Trip is Mint green." Lanced pulled out a clothes rack "Here are all your suits, grab them and put them on. the locker rooms are down the corridor and on the left, DISMISSED!"

When all of the squad was suited up they returned and where shown the watches and night vision glasses that they would be using to get around the maze. Then they went out to the Helicopter that was waiting for them. Drew jumped up and opened the door for them, Climbing into the pilot's seat  
"I'll fly today" Drew whispered as he waited for all of the team to be in the chopper and then pulled it up, up, up and away into the sky, it's silent propeller blades cutting through the night air and the full moon shining down above the city.

They landed at the entrance of the maze and saw the two girls lying exhausted on the floor covered in cuts, scratches and bruises. Trip ran towards Victoria and picked up her shoulders, cradling her in his arms as he knelt beside her. Her two eyes,both black and brilliant blue opened and looked up at Trip  
"I knew you'd find me" She whispered as she looked up weakly but lovingly into his face  
"I promised" Trip said back, his tears streaming down his face "I promised I'd help you," he lent down to kiss her but she held up her hand  
"Save it for latter Trip" She said with a small smile "I believe we have a mission"

It was 3 minutes to midnight and both girls, even the unconscious Dawn, where suited up and kitted out.  
"3 Minutes" Paul muttered and the whole team involuntarily stepped closer together. Victoria was being held up by Trip and Gary and the unconscious Dawn was being carried by Drew. Trip mentally promised himself that if he survived this he was going to propose to Victoria. Gary was thinking about the best way of getting out of the maze, his brain completely in mission mode. Paul was watching the clock and looking around to the north side, nearest the maze whilst Misty was covering the south side, pointing to the Forrest.  
"10 seconds and counting" Paul said as he watched his timer  
"There it is" Misty whispered as she saw a shadowed figure coming out of the Forrest  
"The game Begins now" The monster said, It's face in shadows "You've got 30 seconds"  
Both teams sprinted towards the maze and as Team A turned Left and Team B turned right the monster chuckled to itself  
"Dinner time" It muttered as it counted of the seconds and moved in for the kill...


End file.
